MegaMan Battle Network Transmission
by Gundam of Justice
Summary: AU. After the defeat of the WWW, life appears normal for Netto, MegaMan and all their friends. Until a remnant of Dr. Wily's organization unleashes a dangerous virus on the Net... NOT ON HIATUS ANY MORE
1. Chapter 1

**MEGAMAN BATTLE NETWORK TRANSMISSION**

**A MegaMan Battle Network fanfiction by Fang.EXE**

Howdy all!

If you're reading this, let me tell you that you're about to embark in what I hope will be a long, successful MegaMan Battle Network saga, of which this fanfiction is but the first chapter!

Yes, you heard correctly! I'm writing an AU of the MegaMan Battle Network story, mixing in elements from the anime and the games... and, hopefully, making it better than the original! Believe me when I say that I'm very excited about this new undertaking of mine... and I hope my work will be as well-received on this site as it was among the Italian BN fans!

Action, adventure, drama, a little angst, romance (later on) and humor, I will try to make sure my epic will have it all! So now, without further ado, let's jack in and follow Netto Hikari and his NetNavi-twin brother Saito aka MegaMan.EXE in their brand new adventures! Oh, by the way, if you're wondering... yes, I will use the Japanese names for the human characters... but the American names for the Navis, unless I happen to like the Japanese names more... for example, I just can't get in the habit of using RockMan instead of MegaMan, or Blues instead of ProtoMan, but on the other hand you won't find butchered American names here! (Seriously, MoltanicMan? TorchMan? WackoMan? What the heck...?)

Gah, before I forget, I have a little thing called a disclaimer to do...

Standard disclaimer: MegaMan Battle Network and related trademarks do not belong to me, as much as I'd like to be in Ryo Takamisaki's shoes, and this fanfic has not been written for profit! I hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it, and that you'll kindly leave your opinions about it!

Oh, by the way... this fanfiction was inspired by the Nintendo videogame of the same name, but the events will be greatly different. I sincerely hope you readers will appreciate the novelties! ;)

That having been said... let's begin!

**Chapter 1 - Prologue **

In the last decades, technologies and informatics have gone through huge developments, which brought about a sudden, almost miraculous evolution of the World Net. The Net itself evolves to the point where it became pretty much a parallel world called CyberWorld, populated by programs that execute the vast majority of human activities: commerce, instruction, management of resources and means of transportation... this is but a small example of what the Net is now able to handle on its own, thanks primarily to the invention of the NetNavis, short of Net Navigators, self-aware programs tasked with the management of such activities and more. Thanks to such unbelievable breakthroughs, the world is experiencing a period of peace and prosperity the likes of which has never been seen before. Still, NetNavi aren't mere instruments of control - to many people, they're also trusted friends and companions in everyday life...

Unfortunately, the recent developments in networks have proved themselves able of becoming double-edged weapons. Since compuers play such a vital role in everyday life, handling so many important activities, the potential damage caused by malfunctionings and sabotage is much more dangerous, often putting human lives in jeopardy: Net-terrorists, criminals and programmers of little scruples have created new kinds of electronic viruses which can damage even the new systems and throw the associated activities in disarray, resulting in chaos and terror. To repel these new threats, NetNavis can act as living debug programs, assisted by their Net-Operators and powered by special Battlechips that expand their combat abilities...

In recent days, a dangerous criminal cartel only known as World-3 (WWW), led by the evil Dr. Albert Wily, a mad scientist seeking revenge against the wrongs he perceived to have received from society, has put the whole planet's survival in danger, before being brought down by a simple 5th grader boy called Netto Hikari and by his very special NetNavi, a unique program called MegaMan.EXE! With the end of this serious crisis, both the Real World and the CyberWorld are enjoying a period of relative peace.

But the seeds of evil, once sewn, are quick to germinate...

----------

ACDC Town, a warm spring afternoon. We switch our attention to a small cosy house in the vicinities of the town's elementary school... and, to be more precise, to the room belonging to two old acquaintances of ours...

"YAAAAWN!" The young boy seated at his desk, in his room, opened his mouth in a somewhat rude fashion and yawned loudly in boredom, placing his hand in front of his mouth. He was a vivacious-looking young boy who couldn't be older than ten or eleven, whose messy chestnut-brown hair, combed in those characteristic 'spikes' going on the left side of his head, was being kept in place by a blue headband, on the front of which was enblazoned a circle split in two red halves and surrounded with a yellow outline. He was wearing a white, long sleeved shirt with black decorations on his elbows, with an orange sleeveless jacket on top which somehow looked like a lifejacket, black knee-lenght shorts with yellow lines running down from his hips, and a pair of black socks. His deep brown eyes were semi-closed and clouded with drowsiness, even if it was mid-afternoon.

Yup, that's Netto Hikari, one of the unlikely heroes of our story, and the one who had stopped the WWW's fiendish plans for the destruction of the planet!

"Hey, Netto-kun, what's the matter?" spoke a jovial voice from a small electronic device lying at Netto's side. "Do you have so much free time now that you have no idea what to do with it?"  
Sleepily, Netto reached at his side with his hand and grabbed what looked like a small portable videogame with liquid-crystal screen and a peculiar handle shaped somewhat like a gun's, that allowed the owner to hold the device without putting his/her hands on the surface - more exactly, that was his PET, the portable computer that was used to store NetNavis and directly communicate with them, other than send them in the CyberWorld via connecting the PET to an appropriate plug, an operation known as 'jacking in'. Netto raised his PET in front of his face and looked at the familiar NetNavi showing up on the screen - he looked like a human child, bright and lively green eyes planted in a cute smiling face, and a few short strands of black, spiky hair emerged from the back of the blue helmet he was wearing, with two large decorations shaped like the symbol on Netto's forehead to cover his ears. He was wearing a dark blue bodysuit that covered much of his body, with small yellow shoulder-guards and gloves and boots a lighter shade of blue, and his NetNavi icon - the same yellow circle vertically split in two red halves - was worn proudly on his chest. Despite his happy-go-lucky appearance, he actually gave the impression of being quite a bit more rational and level-headed than his operator, and such an impression was not wrong in the least. This was, of course, the other unlikely hero of our story, MegaMan.EXE, Netto's extraordinary NetNavi, not to mention his twin brother... but more on that later!  
"You've been yawning for a while right now. Aren't you getting too little sleep?" MegaMan asked. Netto shook his head to clear it of the drowsiness, and answered to his inseparable friend.  
"Oh, it's you, MegaMan..." he answered sleepily. "No, I'm not tired, really... I'm just a little bored, nothing exciting happened around here as of late!"

Yes, it was unbelievable to hear... but this sloppy young kid and his unassuming NetNavi, his best friend since he was no more than five years old, were the ones who, no more than a month before, had brought down the dangerous Netcrime syndacate, the World-3! It had all began one fateful afternoon, as life was going on like all other days... both Netto and MegaMan had ended up in the WWW's web without even realizing it, when a WWW agent disguised as a technician had 'paid a visit' to his home and quietly installed a virus in his mother's oven. Netto and MegaMan had intervened as soon as trouble had arisen, and had managed to defeat that agent's NetNavi, FireMan.EXE... but from then on, they had constantly been targeted by the WWW and had had to thwart their plans, which involved collecting the four Elemental Programs and allow their leader, Dr. Albert Wily, to create the ultimate virus, a terrifying monstrosity codenamed LifeVirus, and enact Operation Endgame: the LifeVirus would have been sent in orbit through an hacking rocket, from which it would have been broadcast to the military satellites orbiting around Earth, thus taking control of them and starting a catastrophic electronic war... and the reasons for enacting such a monstrous plan were, very simply, the bitterness and envy Dr. Wily felt against his colleague Dr. Tadashi Hikari, Netto's grandfather...  
Fortunately, thanks to Netto, MegaMan and all their friends, and especially thanks to the genius of Netto's father Yuuichiro, Operation Endgame had failed, the LifeVirus had been obliterated before it could infect the military satellites, and the WWW was dissolved, its mad mastermind disappearing from the world in an almighty explosion...

MegaMan laughed quietly at his Net-Op's answer. "Yeah... isn't it great? No more Net incidents, no more Net terrorism to take care of... a little peace and quiet around here was definitely what we needed!" he answered, lifting his arms in the air and stretching. Netto, not exactly in agreement with his NetNavi, lazily drummed on the desk with the index and the middle finger of his right hand and turned up his nose.  
"Okay, whatever you say..."  
"Oh, and by the way, Netto..." MegaMan went on. "Did you remember your homework?"  
The ever-hated word reached its purpouse of awakening Netto from his boredom-induced torpor, making him suddenly sit upright. His eyes widened in horror, and a comical grimace appeared on his face as he began searching for words. "Ack! What the... my homework... Er... Well, I was about to... you know... heheheee..."  
MegaMan sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'll take that as a no..."

Yes, no sense in trying to hide that - Netto was the authority in his class when it came to virus busting techniques, but in all other topics... let's just say he was a slow starter and leave it at that, okay?

"Well..." Netto started to say, trying to make up some excuse for his 'truancy'. "Is it... that obvious?"  
"Ooooof course not!" the blue NetNavi replied sarcastically, trying to hold in a snicker. It was a lost cause, school never held such a high place in the mind of his vivacious Net-Operator... "Oh, well, since you're so bored, why not do your homework now? Jack me in to your PC, so I can initialize the homework program."  
Netto sighed melodramatically and reached for his PET's connection cable with his free hand, inserting it in his computer's appropriate plug. "Okay, I got it... Jack-In, Megaman... huh? And what's this all about?" He stopped in mid-jacking as his PET's screen flashed briefly and emitted a brief acustic signal. An envelope-like icon had suddenly appeared above MegaMan's head, startling the NetNavi somewhat.  
"Netto, you have mail..." MegaMan said, pointing to the icon on top of the screen. "And it seems like it's a warning message from SciLab, addressed to all the people of ACDC Town!"  
The young boy blinked twice at the mention of his father's working place. "Gee, to the entire populace? And what could be that urgent?" he asked himself, quickly opening a window to visualize the message...

_FROM: SciLab  
RE: Damage from viruses  
TEXT: A warning to the populace of ACDC Town and surrounding areas. A new kind of virus, codenamed 'Zero Virus' has been isolated as of late, and it seems to be spreading in the whole Net. This virus infects NetNavis instead of electronic devices, causing serious malfunctionings. No known vaccine program has been developed as of yet, so the only effective countermeasure in the case of an infection is switching off your PET. _

"Wha...? A new virus?" Netto asked incredulously, as soon as his eyes had finished scaning the message. "And who might have developed it? Now the World-3 is gone for good... at least, that's what I hope!"  
MegaMan shook his head. "Don't have the foggiest idea, Netto... but we'd better be on our guard. With such a dangerous virus on the loose, you never know what might happen..."  
An happy-go-lucky grin reformed itself on the brown-haired boy's face. "Heh. No worries, MegaMan! I'm sure nothing bad will happen to you! After all, you are no ordinary NetNavi, now are you? And if that Zero Virus thing should threaten our friends, we'll fight it together and teach him who's boss!"  
"Alright..." MegaMan answered, returning the smile and putting his worries aside for the time being. "But flattery will get you nowhere! You still have to do your homework!"  
Netto grimaced. "Ugh... okay, you inquisitor of a NetNavi..." he murmured, picking up his PET's connection cable and plugging it in, repeating once again one of his favourite phrases. "_Jack-In, Megaman! Execute!_"  
"Right..." MegaMan said as his data were being transferred from his PET to the CyberWorld. "Let's initialize the 'Homework' program..."

None of them had any idea that what they had faced against the WWW was nothing but the tip of the iceberg...

TO BE CONTINUED...

So, what did you think of my first chapter? I hope this will be just the first of a long, exciting series! As you can see, I'm combining elements of both the anime and the game universes, and I hope the results will be satisfactory. For now, I hope you guys will be kind enough to give me a review and tell me what you liked and you didn't.

I will try to keep this updated often, but please allow about two weeks between chapters, as I balance out my writing with my everyday routine.

Well then, hope you enjoyed this prologue... and see you next time!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: MegaMan and all related names are trademark Capcom, Ryo Takamisaki and Keiji Inafune.

**Chapter 2 - Just Another Day**

ACDC Town, Hikari household.

The small town had just awakened to a beautiful spring morning, and, as usual, a pretty young housewife and mother by the name of Haruka Hikari had gotten up early to do some housework. She was a woman around her early thirties, with short dark brown hair combed in a conservative style, with a very sweet, motherly expression on her face, and was wearing a violet short-sleeved shirt with a white stripe going around her chest, a long dark green skirt, and a pair of brown sandals. Her innocent demeanor was every match with her personality, for Haruka was known for her devotion to her family and the well-being of her household. However, behind that merry, somewhat oblivious facade stood a strong-willed woman with a strong grip on reality... and, as Netto himself could testify, one who could be very unconditional even when it came to having her children do their homework!

Merrily humming to herself, the chestnut-haired woman bent towards her oven and pushed a button to switch it off. She then put on a pair on cooking gloves and, as soon as the oven program had 'willed' the door to open, she took out of it a plate filled with delicious-looking homemade biscuits that filled the air with their pleasant fragrance. Satisfied with the results, Haruka grabbed the tray with both hands and slowly walked to the kitchen table, carefully placing the results of her hard work on top of it, not before making sure that a pair of handkerchieves was placed under them, as to protect the table from the heat.

Just then, her eyes fell upon a digital watch placed on a nearby shelf. About ten seconds to 7:30 AM. The young woman smiled to herself, well knowing what was going to happen in a few instants.

"Well, he's bound to come soon." she quietly said to herself, with all her usual calmness. "Five, four, three, two, one..."

The watch struck seven thirty...

"I'M SO GOING TO BE LATEEEEEEE!!!!"

"There he comes." Haruka concluded, as soon as the alarmed scream coming from an upstairs bedroom had dissipated. Immediately after, the small house was shaken by a comical miniature earthquake, accompained by a noise like that of stampeding cattle... and the responsible for all the ruckus trounced downstairs, sprinting like a rocket through the living room and in the kitchen, almost tripping on his own feet in his haste. He managed to remain upright just as he seemed to fall forwards on his face, then he straightened his headband and his jacket and panted breathlessly for a few seconds.

"Oh, good morning, Netto-chan! And good morning to you, Saito-chan!" Haruka greeted her son and his NetNavi, without losing a speck of her serenity. She was more than accustomed to such scenes, seeing as they happened pretty much every morning!

"Good morning, Mom!" MegaMan greeted back, his voice reaching Haruka's ears from the PET's synthetizers.

"Huff... huff... morning, Mom... sorry I can't stay long... I'm running dangerously late!" Netto breathed while quickly searching through his school backpack, to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Then, he quickly went to the kitchen table, where a plate with a good handful of his mother's cookies placed uon it was waiting for him. As it was predictable, the delicious biscuits soon vanished down the young Hikari's hungry gullet.

"I'm surprised you didn't choke the life out of yourself, with the way you're bolting down your food..." MegaMan commented from his PET, scratching his right cheek and sweatdropping comically at the sight of his NetOp stuffing himself breathless. "You know, Netto, had you woken up a little earlier, now you could actually take a breather between morsels..."

Netto noisily swallowed the last cookie, which was almost too large to slide down his esophagus, then poured himself a glass of milk and drank it all in one gulp. "I had told you to wake me up, MegaMan! I had asked for seven o'clock, if I recall correctly!" Netto tried to protest.

MegaMan sighed. "That I tried to do..." he calmly answered. "Unfortunately, every time I try calling you, you just turn around, put a pillow on your ears, and fall asleep once again!"

"Er... Okay, I got it... But now, time to move it!" Netto concluded as he got up from his seat. He secured his PET to his waist and slipped his backpack on his shoulders before making a run for the exit door. "Mom, we have to go! We wouldn't want to be late for school once again!" he exclaimed, turning to the kitchen where his mother was already busying herself with the housework.

"Wait, Netto-chan!" Mrs. Hikari called for him as she put some of her cookies in a small light blue paper bag and handed it to her son. "There you go. A little snack for halfway through the morning. But remember to share them with Meiru-chan, Dekao-chan and the other, okay?"

Netto smiled at her, accepting the cookies and putting them in one of his backpack's pockets before putting on his ever-present roller-blades. "Thanks, Mom... I'll be sure to!" he answered readily.

"And, of course, pay attention to what Mariko-sensei explains!" Haruka told him with a wink and a knowing smile. "And you, Saito-chan, make sure he doesn't try to play smart!"

The blue NetNavi answered with a nod of his head and his usual warm smile. "Don't worry, Mom... I'll make sure my silly little brother here doesn't start thinking about NetBattles during his lessons!" he answered jokingly, casting a qick agreeing glance to his embarassed NetOp, whose head now played host to an oversized sweatdrop.

"Er... alright, but now we really have to go!" Netto excused himself, weaseling out like he usually did when the conversation regarded school or homework. "So... we'll be seeing you in the afternoon, Mom! Later!"

"See you!" came the voice of MegaMan.

"Later, dear!" Mrs. Hikari concluded, waving at her son and her NetNavi as they sprinted towards ACDC Elementary and watching them with motherly pride. When they eventually disappeared from her sight, Haruka sighed sweetly, murmuring a few words to herself.

"Sigh... my little boys... they've grown up so much, and still it seems like so little time passed..."

----------

Yes, you heard correctly! What Haruka Hikari had just said was nothing but the mere truth... that was MegaMan.EXE's secret and the main reason why he and his Net-Op were so close, a secret that Dr. Yuiichiro Hikari, Netto's father, had disclosed to his son just a little before the climatic battle against the Life Virus...

Netto once had a twin brother called Saito, who unfortunately fell ill just a little after birth with an incurable heart disease. Dr. Hikari, desperate to offer Saito another chance at life, after a long and grueling conflict with himself, and an heartfelt discussion with his wife, had managed to convert a fragment of Saito's own DNA into data... and from that data, MegaMan.EXE, first in a new generation of NetNavi that could truly interact with their operators as friends rather than mere programs, was born!

In other words, MegaMan TRULY was Netto's twin brother!

But, back to the present, as we follow yet another one of Netto Hikari's desperate runs towards ACDC Elementary School, his backpack on his shoulders and his PET hanging from his belt, as he tries to reach his school before the sound of the bell... Well, nothing out of the ordinary, now is it? Netto was well known for his tendency to run late, when it came to school and homework...

Luckily for him, school wasn't that far away from his house, and the courtyard of ACDC Elementary, with its fountain and its flowers in bloom, was soon within reach of a pair of rollerblade swipes.

"Phew... wow... Hang on, we still have a few minutes left..." Netto wheezed breathlessly, forcing his legs to propel him forwards with yet more speed. In a moment's notice, under the disbelieving eyes of a few passerbies, the young boy tore through the schoolgates, stopping for one second afterwards to get some breath back into his body. As he lifted his eyes and looked at the large clock on the front of the school building, Netto sighed in relief as he saw that there were still three minutes before lessons started, and the dreaded (by him) prospect of extra homework or late-school detention could come true...

"Phew... I did it... I'm on time..." Netto wheezed, as he entered the building, only stopping to take his rollerblades off. Then, he went to his locker, put on his school shoes - and ended up almost inverting them in his haste... - and dashed as fast as he could towards the 5-A classroom, which was right at the end of the first floor's corridor! He arrived just in time too, as the familiar school bell rang right after he set foot in the pupil-filled classroom... and as he reached his messy desk, put down his backpack and sat down, the bell had already died down, together with the perky chattering of the children...

"Yo, Netto-kun!" he was immediately greeted by a jovial voice which sounded unrefined yet friendly at the same time, and a large hand slammed itself on his back in a buddy-buddy gesture, cutting off what little breath he still had in his lungs. "Bang on time for once, I see! You finally decided to wake up earlier?"

Netto gritted his teeth and rubbed his shoulder, turning his eyes to his right side to see exaclty who he expected to see: a large, and definitely overweight, tan-skinned boy who was almost completely bald, save for a small 'spike' of dark brown hair jutting out of his forehead. He was wearing a large green shirt with yellow rims around his neck and sleeves, blue pants which were cut at the knees, and large trainers on black socks, and a PET very similar to Netto's was hanging at his side. While he was certainly not much of a looker, he had that friendly, good-natured expression on his face. That was Dekao Ooyama, one of Netto's best friends and his self-proclaimed NetBattling rival. Once the best NetBattler in his school, he and his bulky NetNavi GutsMan.EXE had eventually lost that title to Netto and MegaMan... but they took their defeat well, and soon became an ever-present part of Netto's group, although they had promised one day they would get their title back! And while they still hadn't managed to do so, Netto had to admit they had come pretty darn close in more than one occasion! Anyway, despite Dekao's bulk and his somewhat rough attitude, Netto could safely say that friends as good as the large boy was were hard to come by...

"Owww... hi, Dekao-kun! Y'know, I ALWAYS set my clock early... it's just that I always end up switching it off and going back to sleep..." Netto protested weakly, rubbing his aching shoulder. Sometimes, Dekao was not aware of his own strenght...

A feminine giggle came up behind Netto, as a girl his own age stepped forward to answer the boy's claims, with affected severity. "We all know that, Netto-kun... that's what you always say whenever you happen to run late!"

The girl in question was very nice-looking and pretty, with smooth, shoulder-long bright pink hair decorated with a round hairpin, large chestnut eyes filled with life, and wearing a white long-sleeved shirt similar to Netto's, a cute blue jacket on top of it, a red skirt and elegant red shoes on knee-length black socks. Like Dekao and Netto, she too kept a PET with her. That was Meiru Sakurai, Netto's friend and neighbor since they were in diapers, a very sweet and sensitive child who loved music and was always there for anybody who needed to be cheered up or helped... although at times Netto had no idea of what she could be thinking! In his opinion, girls could be so weird...

Anyhow, both she and her NatNavi Roll.EXE, just like Dekao and GutsMan, had played an important part in taking down the WWW, and hadn't it been for them as well as Netto's other friends, he would never have arrived in time to stop the Life Virus' hacking rocket!

With a nervous laugh, Netto stood up from his desk and faced his friend, an hand propped behind his head. "Well... I say that 'cause it's the truth! But, let's put these things aside for the time being... how are things going for you guys?"

"Not bad, I guess..." Meiru answered, nervously drumming her right index finger on her immaculately clean desk. "However, I'm somewhat anxious for last week's math papers... Mariko-sensei will have corrected them by now, and I'm willing to bet she'll give the results today..."

The two boys' faces contorted in unpleasant surprise at the mention of one of their most dreaded terrors - math papers! "Ouch... I had almost forgotten about them! Last week's math tests!" exclaimed the large boy, his eyes widening almost to the point of popping out of their sockets. "And I'm already sure I failed mine!"

"We're not too enthusiastic ourselves, Dekao-kun... They weren't the easiest thing in the world..." commented a small, somewhat non-descript young boy sitting beside Meiru's desk. With his short, dark chestnut hair, which went in tandem with his deep eyes, and his gentle face, he was stil quite pleasant-looking, and was wearing a yellow shirt with white shorts and trainers, which added to his next-door kid you could meet every day appearance. The boy's name was Tohru Hikawa, son of a scientist of WaterWorks, the company in charge of administering ACDC Town's water supplies. Netto and MegaMan had met him during the recent WWW crisis, as Dr. Wily's men had kidnapped him and forced his father to work alongside them in exchange for his safety. Luckily, the young boy and his NetNavi had managed to thwart the evil organization's plans for causing a water crisis, and from that moment on, Tohru and his NetNavi IceMan.EXE had been an integral part of his group of friends.

"It is of no use to complain now that we are waiting for our grades, don't you think so? Now that we have done the test, there is not much else we can do!" A cheerful, yet somewhat snobbish, female voice intervened, belonging to a little girl about two years younger than Netto who was sitting just behind Meiru; small, with an acute, perky and minutely arrogant expression on her face, she had long blonde hair tied in a pair of overlarge, funny pigtails, big chestnut eyes and, the most noticeable feature, a wide and smooth forehead shiny enough to reflect sunlight! She was garbed in an elegant red dress, complete with a decorated skirt, of the finest quality, and on her feet were red shoes similar to Meiru's over white socks... everything well-kept, and washed and ironed with the utmost care. Unlike the others, she did not seem too concerned with the imminent math grades, and her lips were actually curled upwards in a nonchalant smirk. The youngest, but certainly not least important, member of Netto's gang, Yaito Ayanokouji, was the eight-year-old only daughter of the owner of an important Zaibatsu, and despite the spoiled kid attitude she showed from time to time, she was actually a great friend to all of them. She was living in the largest house in ACDC, a stunningly beautiful estate with all conceivable commodities, surrounded by all manners of luxury and a veritable army of butlers and personal inservients! Moreover, she was quite a genius, as she had been able to skip two grades and attend older kids' classes alongside her friends. Her NetNavi, Glyde.EXE, was a butler-type who was in charge of all her house's functions.

Netto sweatdropped at Yaito's comment. "That's easy for you to say, Yaito-chan... being the little genius you are, you'll have gotten the top grades as usual! One day, I'd really like to know how you do it..."

"Well, let's just leave it for later, guys..." Meiru intervened, casting a glance towards the classroom entrance, through which a very pretty female teacher, very well-known to all the pupils, was making her entrance. "Mariko-sensei is coming..."

The pupils' chatting, which had already died down somewhat, quickly ceased as they all stood up from their desks and greeted their teacher with a formal bow: wearing a pretty azure-green dress with a matching skirt and a small, sleeveless purple jacket, knee-high green boots and purple stockings that almost covered the whole leg, her brown hair tied in a pair of buns and her chestnut eyes shining with kindness, the young teacher of class 5-A, Mariko Ozono, entered the classroom with a red notebook tucked beneath her arm, and a neatly packed CD in one of her dainty hands. The young woman turned to her pupils and bowed back, taking the utmost care not to drop her CD.

"Good morning, Mariko-sensei!" the children greeted. Judging from their enthusiastic voices, it was not difficult to understand that Mariko was the most popular teacher in ACDC Elementary, and for good reasons as well: one would have been hard-pressed to find someone who was equally patient, kind-hearted and who could make all the lessons enjoyable for the children. Many thought that Mariko simply had it in her to be a teacher, and few would probably have argued with that.

"Good morning, pupils. You may sit down." the young teacher answered in her melodic voice. She got up for her bow and, as the pupils sat down in an orderly manner, she walked to her desk and put her notebook and her CD on top of it. "I hope you all had a good morning and you all feel refreshed, as today we'll be having some very interesting lessons in history and virus busting... so, try to pay attention, okay?"

The pupils, whose interest had been sparked by their teacher's words (in Netto and Dekao's case, more by the prospect of virus busting than anything else...), finished sitting down, as Mariko took out a CD from the case and, with the mere press of a button besides the blackboard, she opened a reading panel, another one of the countless commodities that humankind could enjoy thanks to the advancement in technologies...

"However, I do have one thing to say beforehand, one thing which might not please everyone... I have the results for your math tests, therefore switch your desk screens on and see the results." the young woman advised, inserting the CD in the blackboard's drive. Immediately, many of the class' boys and girls turned to an expression of tension and, one at a time, they began activating the small computer screens on their desks, their hands shaking somewhat in apprehension.

"Ugh... just what I needed to start off the day..." Netto murmured from the left side of the classroom. When she was sure everyone had turned their screens on, Mariko closed the drive, and soon evey student could visualize his or her test's results, complete with grade and explanations. Everything rigorously in red, Netto noted - it almost looked like a psychological expedient to strike terror in the hearts of the already-nervous students...

"Actually, the results for this test were nothing out of the ordinary, if we disregard a few welcome surprises..." Mariko began to explain, as the children were busy looking at their works, impatient to see their grade. Of course, Netto and Dekao were among these... they exchanged a quick glance, just to reassure each other, then they gulped in unison and, resigning themselves to their fate, they went straight to their grades. Around them, students were already sighing in relief over a good result, or moaning over a not-so-good one...

Then, like clockwork, Netto and Dekao's grades appeared on their respective screens. The two boys felt their heart stop for a moment, as they looked at their grade which, for a few seconds, appeared as nothing more than a pair of unreadable signs... then the number came into focus and...

"No... way... No... way... this... this is a dream, right?" Netto mouthed, his eyes the size of tea saucers affixed on the figure onscreen. He could not believe his very eyes - a big round 70 written in a gloriously bright red, a grade the young boy had not seen for the longest of times, was shining at the end of his test!

"If it's a dream, Netto-kun..." Dekao exclaimed, his fists excitedly clenched in front of him. "...then we're sharing it... because I got a 68! Mariko-sensei, are you sure this isn't a mistake or something?"

The young teacher smiled kindly at the two students. "I'm glad to inform you, Netto and Dekao, that this is no joke at all! You two have been the welcome surprises of this test, and have done a better job than usual. I'm proud of you, children!"

"YAHOOOO!" Netto shouted, rising from his desk and clenching his fist in the air under the whole classroom's incredulous gazes. "I can't believe it! 70 per cent! My best grade ever in something that isn't virus busting! For once, I and Dekao-kun won't need to retake the test!"

On his PET's screen, MegaMan chuckled in embarass, his hand behind his head. "Hehehee... Well, I'm glad for you, Netto, but next time you want to leap in the air in joy, at least give me a warning so I can hold on to something..."

"Dekao passed his test! GutsMan is very happy, guts guts!" came the voice, for the bigger boy's PET, of GutsMan.EXE, Dekao's large, ape-like NetNavi with a fist of iron and an heart of gold. He was really an imposing figure, with a large body covered in a greyish-black bodysuit and protected with red chest armor, yellow arm guards that covered his upper limbs from his elbow almost to the base of his fingers, yellow working boots on his wide feet, and a prolonged, squared lower jaw which made him look somewhat animalistic. His Navi symbol was a green plus sign on a black field, worn on his armor. At the moment, he was standing with a fist clenched in front of him, and overly-dramatic rivers of tears streaming down his cheeks...

Even Meiru, Tohru and Yaito (whom had all gotten good grades, respectively an 85, 79 and an almost perfect 98) looked happy about the outcome for their two less study-oriented friends, although the blonde girl did look somewhat skeptic about it. "Quite frankly, I don't have the slightest idea how they did it... well, so much the better for them, I guess!" she had commented, smirking cheekily. "They are not the blockheads we thought they were, after all!"

"My congratulations go to you as well, Yaito-ojousama. Once again, your work was nothing short of excellent." came the answer of Glyde.EXE, Yaito's butler-type Navi from her PET. He was a tall Navi, towering over MegaMan but lacking GutsMan's impressive bulk, and was wearing brown chest armor, brown gloves with a round red gem on the palms of his hands, and matching boots over a black bodysuit. His Navi symbol was a red rhomb encased between a pair of yellow triangles against a black background, he wore a somewhat bulky brown helmet with a yellow front, and a pair of white wing-like extention protruded from his back. The expression on his face was refined and elegant, never betraying his emotions too blatantly.

"Oh, that was nothing, Glyde! I can do even better if I try!" Yaito answered proudly, causing her friend to giggle briefly.

Mariko, deciding the time for celebrating had now expired, coughed to get her pupils' attention. "All right, children... as you have seen, this time Netto and Dekao have gotten good grades. May this teach you that no results cannot be attained through study and dedication. As for you two, Netto and Dekao, I'm happy for you, but please do remember that this was just one test. Try not to let your guard now, is that okay?"

"It is more than just okay, Mariko-sensei!" answered an enthusiastic Netto, as he sat back down with stars shining comically around himself. "This is an awesome day for Netto Hikari's student carreer! My first good grade in maths! Oh, the joy of it all!"

Meiru sweatdropped, Tohru shook his head, and Yaito smacked an hand over her large shiny forehead. Their friend, completely taken over by his celebrating, had not listened to a single word their teacher had said!

"Sigh... I should have known as much... some things just never change, do they?" the pink-haired girl asked herself...

----------

The long-awaited-for lunch break had finally come for the students of ACDC Elementary, and all the children had readily flocked to the mess hall or, for those who had brought their lunch with them, to the garden. Among the latter, were five well-known faces who were getting a lot of attention thanks to the bizzarre behaviour of two of them...

"Lalalaaa! Lalalaaa! Our first decent grade in math! Do we rock or what?" Netto happily hummed as he and Dekao were literally hopping their way downstairs to the garden, still excited over their grades. Behind them, the more serious Meiru, Tohru and Yaito were trying to look as uncospicuous as possible...

"They've been repeating that for about four hours straight, for crying out loud!" grumbled IceMan.EXE, Tohru's diminutive NetNavi, from his PET: about half as tall as MegaMan, he looked like a small Eskimo with a green coat, going into a darker green on top of his hood and behind his pants, completely covering his small body, heavy brown gloves and snow boots, and an extremely cute face with large brown eyes and puffy red cheeks. Small tufts of soft white fur poked out from his hood, his sleeves, his waist and the legs of his trousers, and his NetNavi symbol was an eight-pointed white star, meant to look like a snowflake.

Tohru lifted his eyes skywards in mock exasperation. "Come on, IceMan, don't be impatient to them... that was an excellent grade for them, so... let them celebrate a little, before study begin anew..."

"Hey, guys..." Meiru called out to Netto and Dekao, speedily descending the stairs to reach her friends. "I understand you're ecstatic about your grades, and I'm happy for you about them, but now, try not to get too confident! It was just a test, after all..."

Dekao turned to face the pink-haired girl with an hand behind his head, and burst into a jovial laugh, thankful to himself that his tanned skin made it hard to see he was blushing... "Heheheheee... yeah, guess you're right, Meiru-chan, but it's kind of a special day for us two! For the first time in five years of my student carreer, I get a decent grade in a math test!" He snapped his eyes open and enthusiastically turned to the rest of his friends, his fists clenched in front of him. "Why, guys, I just had this terrific idea! Such an occasion should be celebrated, don'cha think so? Then, why don't we all have dinner in that new place they just opened nearby here?"

Yaito blinked, looking somewhat perplexed. A new restaurant in their district? First time she had heard about it... "A new restaurant? I did not know there was one..."

"Me neither." Netto went on. "What's that all about, Dekao-kun?"

"It'll be my pleasure to explain!" the large boy answered proudly. "It's called Maha Ichiban, and it seems to be getting quite a good rep! I heard the curry they make is something out of this world! Not to be missed at all!"

Netto's large chestnut eyes got even larger, golden stars began shining comically around him, and a small rivulet of saliva streamed down the edged of his mouth at the sound of that ever-so-sweet word. "You... you just said... CURRY? Why haven't you told us before, Dekao-kun? If that's the case, you can count on my presence! Wait for me, Maha Ichiban!" he answered happily, drawing a chuckle from MegaMan and causing Meiru to retreat slightly from him at the sight of his slobbering...

"When it's about NetBattles or eating, especially curry, you can ALWAYS count on Netto to be there..." the blue NetNavi commented.

"Er... Netto-kun, not to be a wet blanket or something, but you're being a little gross..." Meiru told her best friend, who promptly closed his mouth to avoid losing even more saliva.

"Hum... right, Meiru-chan... anyways, I'd have to ask Mom for permission, but I'm sure I'll be able to come! What about you guys?" he asked, turning to his friends.

Yaito stopped to think. "Hmmm... _je sais pais_. I'm not too sure about it..." she answered, mixing in a few French words as she used to do from time to time. "I do not know if that is the right food for my delicate palate. Glyde, what is your opinion?"

"The decision is yours to make, Yaito-ojousama..." Glyde answered politely. "However, if I may give my opinion, I think it would not be a bad idea to try."

The blonde little girl remain thoughful for a few second, looking at her PET, then she nodded, lifted her head and gave a beaming smile to Netto and Dekao. "Alright, I guess I would not hurt to try soething different for once. But only on one condition: this dinner is my treat, is that okay with you?" she answered, with a wink that made everyone else smile. Even if she sometimes acted spoiled and a little haughty, Yaito was always generous with her friends...

"No problem with us as well." IceMan went on. "Tohru-kun is free tonight, and my turn at WaterWorks will be tomorrow. So, I guess it's alright. what do you think, Tohru?"

The often-overlooked boy nodded in agreement. "Yes, we'll be there as well. Meiru-san, do you think you'll come as well?"

"Of course... but I'd need the appontment not to be too early. I have a piano lesson later, this afternoon..." the young girl answered, looking at her PET. "Roll-chan, could you plaese remind me what time it will be?"

"Gladly!" answered Roll.EXE, Meiru's female NetNavi, as she searched into the PET's memory for the day's agenda. Everything about her was just screaming 'girl': about as tall as MegaMan, she was covered in a pink bodysuit that only turned black on her thighs and near her shoulders, with matching helmet and boots, red gloves, and yellow highlights near her elbows and knees. Her helmet, behind which flowed her long golden-blonde hair tied with a green ribbon near the end, was equipped with a pair of long golden antennae, and her eyes were green and filled with life. On her chest stood her Navi symbol, which looked like Meiru's hairpin - a pink heart on a yellow background.

After a few seconds of searching, Roll came up with the results. "Alright, Meiru-chan, your piano lesson is from 6 PM to 7 PM, after which you're free. So, what about it? You going to join Netto-kun and the others?" she asked with a kind smile.

Meiru nodded and smiled back. "Of course! Thanks, Roll-chan! Well, guys, in that case... if we meet a little after seven this evening, I'll be sure to come as well!"

"Perfect!" an enthusiastic Netto answered. "Then, Maha Ichiban, prepare yourself! Netto Hikari and his friends are in the house!"

----------

Inside a barren, dimly lit underground room, several images were flashing on a last generation screen fixed to the wall, each one of them showing a NetBattle to the waiting eyes of six shadowed human figures, five of which couldn't be older than their late teens. Everyone's eyes were affixed on the monitor, trying not to miss out on even one second of the movie...

Onscreen, a familiar NetNavi in a blue bodysuit and blue helmet was fighting against several viruses, shooting them with an arm cannon and deleting them one after the other: his first victim, a Canodumb-type virus which looked like a deformed blue cannon, was desintegrated before it could even fire a single shot against its opponent. The second virus, a red Mettaur (a small slug-like creature with a miner's helmet and weilding a pick) tried to attack the blue Navi by slamming its weapon on the ground and shooting a wave of energy along it... but the NetNavi nimbly dodged the shot and responded by throwing a small bomb against the Mettaur. It detonated on impact, erasing the virus from existance. Then, the NetNavi morphed his arm into a shining white sword and easily cleaved his way through the last virus, a Fishy-type that strongly reminded him of some kind of demented green flying fish and that had dived headfirst towards its opponent in an ill thought-out attempt to avenge its comrades.

"That was quite impressive, I'll say..." A childish, yet cold and hinting at cruel, voice broke the silence. "That NetNavi can defeat with great ease viruses that would prove dangerous opponents for most other programs..."

"Now I can see why our old organization feared him so much..." A similar voice answered.

Just then, the scene changed to the battle between MegaMan and a tall, threatening humanoid NetNavi in a red and white bodysuit, whose hands had been outfitted with flamethrowers, and whose head looked like a large funnel with beady black eyes, a crimson flame erupting from its top. The two NetNavis were darting in and out, shooting laser beams and large fireballs at each other in a furious attempt to get the upper hand, but victory finally smiled upon the blue Navi, who logged his opponent out with a powerful shot from his arm cannon.

"Feh. That FireMan was such a loser..." an arrogant boyish voice commented. "I can't believe the WWW was counting on such wimps to carry out its plans..."

Another male voice answered, this time belonging to the supposed leader of the group - a man who seemed to be in his fifties, tall and quite imposing despite his age, who was standing in front of the younger members of the organization. He was dressed, for all that could be seen, in a long white labcoat with beige trousers and brown shoes, and his voice had a distinctly hard, evil tone to it... the voice of someone who did not allow anyone to contradict him. "Watch what you say, Seiya... Need I remind you that FireMan was one of the best NetNavis our old organization could count on? The fact that MegaMan was able to defeat him with relative ease should only warn you about his potential. He's nobody to scoff at, so think twice before you judge an opponent from his appearance."

The boy called Seiya shrugged, completely unimpressed. "Such rubbish. I'm sure my NetNavi could take that wimp in less than ten seconds." he boasted.

"Hah! My NetNavi would not even need to start counting the seconds!" A shrieky, annoyingly high-pitched female voice answered back.

"Will you stop saying such nonsense?" the older man shouted irritably as he turned to the group of youngsters, as the battles continued onscreen: first MegaMan was going against a colorful clown-like NetNavi, then against an electric-type Navi covered in a sleek black armour with four power generators mounted on his back and splayed in an X-formation... finally, the monitor showed the spectacular sword duel between MegaMan and a NetNavi garbed in a black bodysuit with red breastplate, gloves and boots, a matching helmet under which flowed his long white hair, and a visor on his eyes similar to a pair of sunglasses...

"Pay the utmost attention. This unassuming MegaMan guy has actually managed to defeat, albeit narrowly, even the infamous ProtoMan.EXE, the NetNavi of the ace Official NetBattler, Enzan Ijyuin! And, in case you all need a reminder, he is the one that took down the Life Virus, which we all thought to be indestructible!" continued the older man, whose face was finally illuminated by the scarse light of the room: the mysterious man was bald, with a shaved face and a somewhat wrinkled face that only managed to make him look ever more cruel, while his black eyes were small and beady, glistening with malevolent intelligence and cunning. On his right eye and ear was a strange device consisting in some sort of hearing aid with a red-tinted lens attached to it and covering the eye.

"This should warn you about what we will be dealing with. We absolutely cannot allow this Navi and his operator, Netto Hikari, the grandson of that accursed Prof. Tadashi Hikari, to interfere with the spreading of our Zero Virus, otherwise our project to control the CyberWorld, and the Real World along with it will be ruined. Am I making myself clear?"

"Crystal clear, Dr. Doppler!" answered another male voice, belonging to someone that hadn't spoken until then: he sounded a lot more calm and rational than the other members of the shady organization... but a cold malice, that of a tiger waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting prey, could be heard behind the seemingly tranquil tone. "Rest assured we will spread the Zero Virus as of previsions, and we won't let anyone, not even that MegaMan.EXE, disrupt our plans! Our NetNavis are ready to further Operation Zero, and are ready for anything!"

"I'm glad to hear that, Kenji. I know you're my most trusted disciple, and I can count on your word." the man called Dr. Doppler answered coldly. "In that case, the operation will continue normally. GeminiMan, CrashMan, TimeMan and ToxicMan will start operating in ACDC Net and spread the Zero Virus there, while StarMan, SwordMan and GravityMan will stand guard to the Zero Account and make sure our guest always stays well-protected. Is that okay?"

"At your command, Dr. Doppler!" the five voices answered in unison, as Dopller's accomplices quickly bowed to their superior.

The evil scientist grinned sinisterly and placed a fist on his hip, plaesed with his henchmen's efficiency. "Very well then. That will do for now. Restart our operation and wait for new orders."

As the four boys and the girl orderly exited the room, getting past a sliding metal door that gave access to the rest of their base, Dr. Doppler took some sort of remote controller out of a pocket of his lab coat, turned to the screen where the battle between MegaMan and ProtoMan had just ended with the blue Navi's narrow victory, and pressed a red button. The movie immediately ceased, and a blank screen began staring ominously into the room, casting a strange light into the scientist's hard face.

"The WWW simply did not have what it took to make Lord Wily's dream come to fruition..." Doppler murmured to himself, staring at the screen as if trying to see the end results of his plans upon it. "But that makes no difference. We will triumph where those four buffoons, Mahajarama and his little friends, failed! We will build the robotic world Lord Wily wished for, and destroy the accursed Net Society!"

He stopped, pausing in his speech as if trying to affect an imaginary crowd... that he went on, seemingly talking to someone else.

"And I know I can always count on you for that, my dear Zero.EXE..."

----------

"So, that's the new place? I was expecting something sort of more modern, if I have to be sincere..." Netto commented, as he looked at the Maha Ichiban's entrance somewhat incredulously.

"Quite a _retro_ place, I'd say..." Yaito sentenced, throwing a French word in.

It was around eight o'clock in the evening, and night had already begun to fall on ACDC Town, when Netto and his gang had met in front of Dekao's house and, following the lead of GutsMan's burly operator, had taken a small walk to the new place they had heard of that morning. It wasn't exactly how Netto was imagining it to be, as it was a tradition-style restaurant, with wooden sliding doors and a large white insigna, sporting the place's name written in kanji and hiragana, placed just above the entrance. A pair of red lanterns beside the insigna was casting a warm light in front of the door, and from their position, the kids could easily hear the chatting of the clientele and see the lighting coming from inside. To sum it up, it wasn't the fancy place they all had thought...

"Er... I guess it might not look like much at first glance..." answered the tan-skinned boy, himself perplexed before the apparent simplicity of the new restaurant. "Still, I have heard good things about it, so... let's try it anyway, okay? Maybe it gets better inside..."

"Alright..." Netto answered, as he slid the door sideways and allowed his friends to enter, the faint sound of a buzzer announcing their entrance. Netto looked upwards on his side to see a small device attached to the wall, whose function was apparently that to detect people entering the place and warning the restaurant personnel of their new clients...

Inside, the Maha Ichiban was illuminated by the warm light of halogen lamps affixed to the ceiling, and was looking quite a bit better than from the outside, even if it didn't have all the authomatized comforts one would expect from a modern restaurant in the year 200X: some traditional-style paintings were hanging from the walls, the tables were orderly splayed around, with several clients already seated and dining, and both the check and the entrance to the kitchens were on the other side of the large room. Before Netto and his friends could ask themselves where the owner (or the owners) of the restaurant was, a strangely familiar male voice came from the kitchens.

"Hey, guys, haven't you heard? We got new clients, somebody go and greet them!"

"A little patience, dang it!" the annoyed voice of a young woman in her early twenties, strangely familiar as well, answered back. "Now I'm busy with this stupid dishwasher! Hey, Ken, since you're through with that curry, why don't YOU go instead?"

"Alright, alright already! But at least let me look passably!" a third voice shot back, and its owner exited the kitchen and used his hands to wipe his apron. As soon as he was out, he put on his best commercial smile, trying to appear as friendly and professional as he could. "Er... welcome to Maha Ichiban, the best restaurant around ACDC! Please, have a seat, how... er... many... of you... ugh... I... can't... believe... it..."

The reason why the last words came out with difficulty was the very fact that the young man had placed his gaze upon Netto's gang, only to meet five pairs of eyes affixed incredulously upon him! In fact, the newcomer was all too familiar with the Net-Battling quintet: he was a tall, well-built young man, around his mid-twenties, with long, curly, fiery red hair, a matching goatee, a black suit, which went into purple on hs long sleeves, covering his whole body and accenting his physique, dark red boots... and a very out-of-place (at least in Netto's opinion) white apron tied to his hips!

The red-haired man looked just as surprised to see the five kids, and for a few seconds both he and Netto remained affixed there and looking in each other's eyes as if they had seen an alien or something, completely oblivious to the clientele which had turned their attention to them.

"You... you are..." Netto mouthed, his index finger pointing towards the newcomer.

"No... way... No... freaking... way..." he mouthed back, copying the young boy's gesture and making even more head turn to them. A stange cold wind began blowing noisily between the two, the wind happily ignoring the fact that they were inside a building...

"For cryin' out loud, Kenichi! Do you need an eternity to get a few clients seated or something?"

The weird situation seemed to dislodge itself when another strange-looking man came out of the kitchen: this one person was blond, his hair combed backwards in two 'spikes' that gave him a somewhat crazed appearence, and was wearing a dark yellow-going-into-brown suit with matching trousers, a red tie and black shoes with yellow lighting effects on the soles (although his elegant look was damaged somewhat by a cooking apron with a yellow lightning drawn upon it). He looked a little older than the redhead. At first, as he approached his colleague to shake him out of his stupor, he suspected nothing as he saw the quintet of schoolchildren... but then, he gave them a better look, noticed the bandana-wearing brunet among them...

...and remained petrified as well!

Why, yes, that they were: in front of Netto and his friends' unbelieving eyes stood the operators of FireMan.EXE and ElecMan.EXE and former members of the WWW... Kenichi 'Fist of Fire' Hino and Count Jack Electel themselves!

"YOU!!!" Netto and Kenichi shouted in unison...

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Chapter 3

**Megaman Battle Network Transmission**

Hello, everyone! After a fair bit of waiting, I finally manage to update! I hope the next chapters will be faster, and I assure you I'm working as fast as I possibly can, with my everyday duties and all...

Oh, well... hope you will enjoy this next chapter! The real action is bound to come soon!

----------

**Chapter 3 - WWW Strikes Back**

In the middle of the Maha Ichiban's main lounge, Netto's group and the two former WWW operators had remained petrified, looking incredulously into each others' eyes, not even knowing what to say or do, and more than a few clients had removed their attention from their meals to turn their gazes to them. The uncomfortable silence went on for a few seconds, before Kenichi, taking a few glances around the room, took notice of the many pairs of disbelieving eyes headed their way. The red-haired young man, quickly placing an hand behind his head and shaking the other in front of him in an assuaging gesture, shook himself out of his stupor and spoke top the bewildered clientele.

"Er... Heheheheheee... no... nothing to worry 'bout, gentlemen! Everything under control!" he nervously laughed, a huge sweatdrop pouring down his head. "Fact is... well.. these kids are old acquaintances of ours and... yeah, we kinda got weirded out seeing 'em around here! You can attend to your dinner alright! We'll just... er... take this discussion somewhere else! Our apologies, and have a good meal!"

That havin been said, FireMan's operator sent out another nervous laugh, bowed apologetically to the clientele, and quickly approached Netto and Count Jack, seizing them uncerimoniously by the sleeves as he sped towards a side door exiting on an outdoor garden. At that, even Netto's friends shook themselves awake and raced after Kenichi.

"HEY! What'cha think you're doing, buddy?" Dekao roared, his fist clenched as he pursued the former WWW member in the garden, with Yaito, Mieru and Tohru trailing after him. "You owe us some explanations!"

"Indeed! What do you scoundrels have in mind? Is it another of those preposterous plans of yours?" an indignant Yaito shrieked. In less than two seconds, even Netto's friends had disappeared through the door, the clients' disbelieving stares following their every move. Finally, after a little while, everyone returned to their meals, shrugging off what had just happened as the prank of a small gang of street urchins who had nothing better to do than annoy the restaurant owners...

However, peace was short-lasting, as another owner threw the kitchen door open with an annoyed gesture, and stepped out, trying to recall her two colleagues: a gaudy girl in her early twenties, with long orange-vermillion hair tied in a pair of bristly pigtails to the sides of her head, wearing a white sweater with orange and deep red sleeves, long trousers striped in blue, greenish and purple, red trainers... and a ridiculous-looking white apron decorated with the image of a small chicken, and the onomatopoeic 'Piyo Piyo' written overhead. That was Madoi Iroya, the only female member of the old WWW, and the Net-Operator of ColourMan, a clown-like NetNavi with a penchant for silly pranks.

"What the heck, you two! May I please know what are you doing out here?" she indignantly exclaimed, looking around the room in her search for Kenichi and Count Jack. Her question was met with silence, as the clients once again were distracted from their meal and found themselves looking at the unusual scene... and Madoi blinked twice and turned her nose up as she saw that her colleagues were no longer there. "Well, now what? Where have those two gone? Raising up such a fuss, and then disappearing into thin air?"

"It looks like we'll be having some.. interesting visits tonight." Madoi was startled breathless by a deep, calm voice coming from behind her, which had her jumping up in the air in a jolt of surprise! Quickly turning around, the girl found herself staring at the stoic, dark-skinned face of the fourth member of the WWW, a Yumland native called Maha Jarama, who had been Dr. Wily's right-hand-man, and the Net-Operator of the mysterious MagicMan. Tall and thin, he looked a lot like an Hindu priest, with his dull orange, sleeveless, knee-long vest with green edges, his brown sandals and the white bindings around his wrists and ankles. His black hair was scarce to the point where he appeared almost bald, except for a short ponytail hanging from the back of his head, and on his cheekbones, just under his permanently-closed eyes, were two azure decorations, with a red button-like object on his forehead.

"Maha! Dang it, was it that fun to almost give me an heart attack?" Madoi protested, an hand placed on her chest to calm her furiously beating heart. "And just what do you mean by 'interesting visits'?"

Without even as much as changing his countenance, Maha answered. "I think our comrades can talk about it more calmly afterwards. Now, anyway, I'd suggest getting back in the kitchen and tend to the dishes. Our clients are waiting. And they are starting to grow annoyed, I might add."

In fact, most of the diners had not exactly been appreciative of all those noisy interruptions, and more than one of them was making his unsatisfied voice heard. The orange-haired young woman, quickly realizing her blunder and that it was no time for playing twenty questions, sighed in resignation and shook her head, before giving her apologies to the clientele with her best circumstantial smile on her pretty, while havily made-up, face. "Alright... ugh... we apologize for the inconvenience, and we assure you there will be no more of them. Thank you, and have a good evening!"

With these words, Madoi and Maha bowed and hastily retreated in the kitchen, as the clients sighed in discontent and finally went back to their meals...

All but one, who kept her glasses-wearing purple eyes on the double doors behind which the former WWW agents had disappeared. Seated at a one-seat dinner table, in a somewhat removed corner, was a young girl, barely seventeen by the looks of her, wearing the white sailor suit typical of Japanese schoolgirls, with green skirt and collar, a yellow tie, and black shoes over white socks. Her smooth hair, as black as a raven's feathers, were tied in two ponytails... and her eyes, half-hidden by her glasses' thick lenses, glanced with disdain at the world around her, as her mouth curled slightly upwards in an unpleasant smirk.

"So... these are the oh-so-formidable WWW agents this town feared so much? Worthless idiots..." she murmured, as her thoughts wandered back to the funny scene that had taken place before her very eyes. "And one of those silly kids would be Netto Hikari, the famed MegaMan's Net-Operator... Heh... I have to say that I was expecting a lot more, but that hardly matters, as things now stand.This is a great place for diffusing the Zero Virus..."

She interrupted herself and looked at the black PET lying on her knees under the tablecloth, and was immediately greeted by the serious glance and unreadable expression of a grey NetNavi, whose face resembled a clock-face with the lancets pointing to 4 and 8, like an uneven moustache.

"Is that okay with you as well, TimeMan?" the girl asked, keeping that venomous smile on her face.

----------

After literally barging into the restaurant's small Japanese-style garden, complete with a pond filled with colourful koi, Kenichi, Count Jack and Netto stopped to take a breather... and then, the tall red-haired young man raised his head and glared heatedly at the young NetBattler, just as Netto's friend were coming over.

"Alright, kid, now you explain!" FireMan's NetOp exclaimed fiercely. "What on Earth are you here for? Just when our restaurant was taking its first steps!"

"That's... that's my question, pal!" Netto protested, an hand clenched into a fist. "What's this restaurant farce all about? You WWW guys planning another of your absurd schemes, I suppose... You're trying not to draw attention to you while you re-organize, right?"

The former World Three executives remained dumbfound, and their eyes turned into black dots of puzzlement as Meiru, Dekao, Tohru and Yaito joined Netto and placed themselves at his sides, the largest boy already tucking his sleeves in case the two reacted violently. For a few moments, an awkward silence reigned supreme between the two groups...

...and then, the corners of Kenichi's mouth curled upwards in an amused smile, which soon turned into half-smothered giggles... then, the two men tried desperately not to laugh, with guffaws and barely-contained cackles... and finally, before Netto and his friends' disbelieving eyes, they simultaneously burst into hearty, incontainable, roaring laughter that completely silenced the low sounds coming from the dining room!

"Er... Wha... what on Earth... is this all about...?" Netto murmured, a large, comical sweatdrop pouring down his bandanna-covered forehead. "MegaMan... did I say something strange? Those two just began laughing like hyenas..."

The azure-wearing NetNavi, from his PET's screen, watched Kenichi and Count Jack doubled over in laughter, feeling as confused as his operator. "Er... Haven't the foggiest idea, Netto... if they aren't pursuing one of their plans, then what is this all about...?"

Meanwhile, Kenichi was laughing so much his eyes were actually begining to water! "HAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! Have you heard the guy? Trying not... to draw attention... Heheheheheee... HAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! That's a good one! The best one I ever heard!" he bellowed, an hand on his forehead and his mouth wide open in mirth.

"You think we're... HAHAHAHAHAAA... planning... something?" the rock-obsessed Count choked as he desperately tried to fill his lungs with life oxygen. "Huhuhuhuhuhuuu... Man, what's the deal with nowadays youth... not trusting nobody anymore? Now, now, kids, come on! Do we really look like we have something up our sleeves?"

"Hey! Hey! Slow down, people! Time out!" a very confused Dekao exclaimed, putting his hands perpendicular to each other to form a T sign. "What are you getting at, you two? Aren't you and your comrades trying to...?"

Once again, the fire-obsessed WWW member placed his hand behind his head and laughed merrily. "Heheheheee... Of course we aren't, guys! Let it be known that we finally decided to work honestly! We made up our minds to turn over a new leaf, seriously! We told ourselves... to heck with plans of world domination and all this sort of stupid things... now, we own this restaurant and, we have to say, we're really making a good business of it! What motives would we have for pulling your legs, now?"

"Hmmm..." Netto answered, not really looking convinced of what the former WWW lackeys were telling him. "Dunno... Quite frankly, I can't really trust you guys! You guys did quite a few nasty things when you were serving under Dr. Wily! You, my dear Count, were the one who caused that gigantic power loss at the SciLab building just when I and my parents were attending that dinner party! And about you, Kenichi... weren't you the one who almost blew up our home, with that firey NetNavi of yours?"

"Not to mention you held me up in the traffic just when I needed to use the lavatory! BADLY!" an indignant Yaito shrieked.

"And you WERE the ones that kidnapped me to blackmail my father into working for you! How are you going to justify this?" Tohru exclaimed, looking terribly serious. In fact, that had been one of the WWW's most dangerous attacks to the small town - Dr. Wily's henchmen had kidnapped Tohru, and had forced his father, Dr. Hikawa, who was responsible for the WaterWorks network, to take part in their plans... and the result was a dangerous water crisis that MegaMan had narrowly managed to avert...

Count Jack Electel sighed in mock-exasperation. Well, he didn't count on them immediately believing his word...

"Oh my, my, my... Looks like faith in humanity has been all but forgotten, nowadays..." he asked himself in a purposely melodramatic tone. "Alright then, kids... if you really don't want to believe our words, why don't you ask our Navis? You can jack in from that counter up there... and you'll find our NetNavis merrily working at our restaurant's maintenance! They'll tell everything there is to know!" he went on, pointing to an electrical counter hanging from the restaurant's wall, a few meters away from them.

A still-dubious Netto wrinkled his nose. What if that one was a trap of sorts? As if he could read his mind, Kenichi answered the question the young boy was asking himself. "We swear on our honour that this is no trap! You can jack in to our network without any fear at all!"

"Hmph! We don't really know if we can trust you..." Dekao grumbled, casting his glance towards the rest of his friends. "What do you guys think? Do they really deserve to be trusted, after all?"

"I... well, truth be told, I'm not really sure myself..." Meiru answered.

A few moments of tense silence later, MegaMan made his voice heard from his PET.

"Well, guys, the matter is quite simple, actually... You jack me in, Netto, and I see for myself! If it's a trap, I'll just take it out... but I don't think such little tricks are something our friends would do, so I guess I'll have no problem. Is that okay with you, guys?"

Netto raised his PET and spoke to his NetNavi cum twin brother as he walked to the electrical counter, trying to never lose sight of the two former WWW executives. "You sure about that, MegaMan? Hmm... alright, since you're the one asking that... but do be careful, please! Okay then... _Jack In! MegaMan.EXE, Power Up!_" the young NetBattler exclaimed, taking out his Pet's connection cable and inserting it in the counter's jack-in port.

MegaMan's image on the liquid-crystal screen faded, as his data were transferred to the restaurant's network...

----------

MegaMan reappeared inside the control system in a flash of bright azure, and immediately began looking around. He found he was standing on a virtual floor of shining red linoleum - at least, this is what the floor data looked like - surmounted by a pale orange 'sky', filled with Hiragana and Kanji writings that advertised the Maha Ichiban, floating in the air like clouds. A few meters in front of him, stood what looked like large machines, generators and similar engines, on which some well-known faces were hard at work; to be more exact, those faces belonged to a quartet of NetNavi attending to the system's various operations... and two of them, immediately recognized by MegaMan as the NetNavi belonging to Kenichi and Count Jack, were busy attending to a large machinery, at least until his arrival drew their attention to him.

"Why, look who's come around! You're that blue NetNavi from a few months ago!" exclaimed FireMan.EXE, a tall and menacing NetNavi with squared shoulders, covered from head to toe in a crimson red suit with white boots, as a burst of yellow and red flames erupted from his funnel-shaped head. He had very much no face to speak of, except for a pair of deep black eyes glaring at the world around from a pair of sockets just underneath the head flame, and he had a pair of flamethrowers instead of hands... which he was using to shoot streams of roaring flames through an opening on the side of the large machinery (quite possibly, MegaMan deduced, the restaurant's heating system). The three remaining Navis, one of which was aiding FireMan in his job, raised their surprised faces to meet the blue NetNavi's eyes.

"So it IS you, FireMan!" MegaMan greeted back as he walked towards the flaming Navi, never ceasing to cast a few glances around himself, just in case. "Yeah, it's been some time since then... and this is the last place I'd have expected to meet you and your friends in!"

"Heh... Take a look who's there! So it's true that, sooner or later, you always meet again!" was what FireMan's comrade commented as a brief jolt of crackling electricity shone on the X-shaped generators on his back. As he raised his head, MegaMan found himself looking at a pale green face with piercing red eyes, belonging to a Navi who wasn't quite as physically impressive as FireMan, donning a black bodysuit with battery-like motives drawn on his legs, a black and yellow striped breastplate, and golden glows sparkling with electricity. Of course, this was ElecMan, Count Jack's mighty Electric-type NetNavi, and one of the strongest members of the old WWW.

"Hm? Who's come to pay us a visit?" asked a strange, clownish, big-eyed NetNavi after raising his glance from the washing machine controller he was working on. Very colourful, his azure hair combed in a pair of spiky tufts, he was dressed in a vivacious red dress whose sleeved were striped in yellow and light blue, comically overlarge hands covered in red gloves going into yellow on his fingers, and a small red beret... but what stood out the most was the white balloon covered in azure dots he had instead of legs. Needless to say, that was ColourMan, Madoi's oddball NetNavi with a penchant for pranks and goofiness.

The last one to notice to notice MegaMan's arrival was the cashier Navi, who had just then received the payment from the NetNavis of a few clients: he was another strange-looking individual who reminded one of the wizard Merlin, with his cerulean, ankle-long magician's dress and his pointed hat decorated with a small circular red gem in front. He had yellow eyes devoid of pupils, and his face was hidden by the CyberWorld equivalent of a white beard, all of which contributed in giving his a mysterious and 'magical' feel. A pair of sharp spikes jutted out of his shoulders, and his arms ended in a pair of large spherical red jewels instead of hands.

"That was a surprise, I guess you could say. I'd never think we would meet again this way." was the greeting MegaMan received from MagicMan.EXE, Maha Jarama's wizard Navi and supposedly the leader of the WWW quartet, when the latter had received the bill from the last customer. Of alll the WWW NetNavi, he was the one MegaMan knew the least of, especially because he had only met him briefly before the climatic battle with the Life Virus... but he did know that he was the strongest of the four, despite his fairly odd habit of talking in rhyme! He had even come close to deleting MegaMan...

Yes, indeed! All the old World Three NetNavis were reunited in that place, and working at the restaurant's facilities! MegaMan had to admit, it was fairly odd to see those guys, previously known as dangerous Net-criminals, handling such common housework...

"I am even more surprised at seeing you work here like common NetNavis..." the Blue Bomber answered. "So, what your Net-Operators said is true... you really have decided to turn over a new leaf!"

"Well... yeah, suppose you could say that..." FireMan answered, gruffly yet amicably. "Without Dr. Wily's guiding hand, the WWW had no more reason to be, and our operators found something they liked more... and so, he Maha Ichiban was born!"

ElecMan crossed his arms in front of his chest and took on a somewhat unconvinced demeanor. "Hmph... anyway, I maintain that it's quite undecoming for a NetNavi such as myself to work at a simple restaurant's oven and take care of its electric plant... while, when I worked for the WWW, I caused blackouts and shortcircuits! Oh, well... on the other hand, if the Count decided so..."

"ElecMan, that was in the past. To mull it over will get us nowhere fast." the ever-serene MagicMan intervened. "MegaMan, as you can plainly see... we have nothing to hide, and from suspicion we are free."

"As of now, I'm taking care of the heating system, and I regulate the functioning and the temperature of the ovens..." FireMan explained. "While MagicMan takes care of contability, ElecMan, as he said himself, has been assigend to the electric plant... and finally, ColourMan controls the functioning of other engines, such as the dishwasher, and makes sure there are no malfunctionings."

"That's right!" chirped the happy-go-lucky clown NetNavi, as he bounced around like a child about to receive a large icecream. "And, I have to say, working at the appliances was a lot more fun than I imagined! All those colourful buttons, those commands to pull... I like it, it's like a new game! There's nothing to get bored about!"

"Er... it's not hard for me to believe that, ColourMan..." murmured MegaMan, a small sweatdrop slowly making its way down the back of his head. Knowing Madoi's NetNavi's peculiar behaviour, and his liking of confusion and dubious jokes, he was quite surprised that the restaurant had not been blown away by one of his screw-ups... "Anyhow... okay, if that's your final decision, I'm happy with that, and I wish you good luck!"

"Still, you shouldn't lower your guard..." FireMan warned, his demeanor getting grim all of a sudden. "You see, MegaMan, I still haven't given up on trying to defeat you, and one day, I have all the intention of challenging you again to a Net-Battle! Not right now, of course... but when I'll get stronger, we'll fight again! Do not forget that!"

"Okay, I'll remember that..." the blue NetNavi answered. After all, it was all to be expected from the NetNavi companion of an hot-headed guy like Kenichi 'Fist of Fire' Hino: he wasn't one to take a defeat quietly, and asking for a rematch was just his style... but anyway, this time it wasn't a fight to deletion! "Whenever you feel like it, FireMan, I'll be ready to accept your challenge!"

"Very good! Now that's the way I like it!" the fiery NetNavi answered. He couldn't see the strange way ElecMan was looking at MegaMan... a glare belonging to someone eager for another battle...

"_MegaMan... do not think for a moment I forgot the humiliation you handed me back then, at the Power Plant..._" the red-eyed Elec-type Navi thought to himself. "_I HAVE got a little score to settle myself, and this time... I have no intention of going easy on you!_"

Finally, MagicMan reclaimed everyone's attention with the NetNavi equivalent of a cough. "Eh-hm... To interrupt this reunion, I do with regret... but our work waits and can not be protract. MegaMan, as for you and your friends... please come in, and get seated in the end."

"Alright, MagicMan... thanks a lot!" MegaMan answered. The wizard Navi raised his gem-hand as if to say that there was no need to thank him, while his three companions went back to their respective assignments, and MegaMan opened a comm channel with his Net-Op. "Hey, Netto! Everything going smoothly around here! Kenichi and the others are telling the truth, you can trust them on this one! Jack me out!"

"At once, MegaMan! I'm glad to hear it!" the chestnut-haired boy answered. A column of azure light surrounded the Navi as his Net-Op recalled him in his PET, and his body turned into the LOGOUT word before disappearing...

----------

Netto detached his PET from the jack-in port and turned to the former WWW members in satisfaction. "Okay, looks like you two were telling the truth after all..." he commented. "You and your Navi have truly decided to leave the way of Net-crime..."

"That's what we were trying to say all along, now wasn't it?" Kenichi answered, his arms open in what was intended to be a gesture halfway between relief and trying to underline the obviety of the fact. "We've said goodbye to the WWW and its plans... and now, we're treading on the right way!"

Yaito curled her nose cutely. "I sure can't picture you guys sweeping the floor or working at the kitchen..."

"Heh, well... things do change with time, kiddo! Even in ways we would never have imagined, right? Heheheheeee..." Count Jack laughed jovially, and inadvertently made a false move. At the mention of the word 'kiddo' referring to herself, the rich heir of the Ayanokouji Zaibatsu turned a dangerous shade of angry red, and two small clouds of white steam puffed out of her large and shiny forehead. Already familiar with the symptoms, Glyde made haste to calm down his young Net-Op's anger.

"Please, Yaito-ojousama, do not take it as a lack of respect... I'm convinced that Count Electel did not mean to be rude in you regards..." the butler-type Navi calmly said.

Yaito humphed and turned her head aside. "Hm! I still take offense at being thought of as a little girl!"

Tohru, Meiru, Dekao and their Navis made no actual comment immediately after, but the news that their sworn enemies had changed their ways was very welcome to them. While IceMan and his young operator were still a little suspicious of Dr. Wily's former henchmen - for obvious personal reasons -, they also reasoned that, after all, there was no reason for them not to allow them at least the benefit of the doubt...

"So, IceMan? What do you think of this? We can put a little trust in them, can't we?" the chestnut-haired boy asked his Eskimo-like NetNavi. IceMan crossed his arms on his chest and nodded seriously.

"Um, yeah, I guess we can do that... on the condition that they behave, that is!" he answered, trying to sound as strict as he could.

Dekao was okay was the arrangement as well. "Alright, since Netto-kun puts his faith in you guys... I don't see why we shouldn't!"

"We're all friends now! Guts, guts!" GutsMan exclaimed, in agreement with his operator. Near them, even Meiru and Roll were expressing their consent...

"You're okay eith this as well... right, Roll-chan?" the fucsia-haired little girl asked her best friend. The female NetNavi in a pink battle suit had no objection as well.

"As IceMan rightly put it... if they promise not to play some sick joke on us, no reason why we can't trust them!"

Kenichi called everyone's attention to himself with a double clap of his hands. "Aaaaalll right then, everybody! Since we're all in agreement on that, how about you all get seated and enjoy your dinner? By chance, we have a spare five-seat table, and we're impatient to allow you to taste the best curry in all of Electopia! Now, what are we waiting for?" he asked, grinning widely as he began his way back to the restaurant's dining room.

Netto raised his hand entusiastically at the mention of his favourite food. "Here we come! I was waiting for this!"

"Very well! You'll see, you won't regret this!" Count Jack concluded, giving a thumbs-up gesture to his guests. Sharing a carefree group laugh, the happy brigade made their way back to the main room, their earlier worries put aside...

----------

Two hours, a delicious spicy-curry-based dinner and a few chats between old and new friends after, Netto's group was leaving the restaurant to go back to their respective houses. Yaito and Glyde had paid everyone's bills, as the youngest of the group had promised earlier that afternoon, and the schoolboys were now exchanging the last pleasantries with the former WWW agents - Maha and Madoi included - beside the restaurant's entrance. The premises were now about to be closed, and almost all the remaining guests had paid their bills and headed out... so, all that was left to do was collecting the remaining customers' due, and call it a night.

"Aaaaah... it was such a surprise to meet you again here, in this place!" ColourMan's gaudy operator was saying, sporting a friendly - yet a little forced - smile. "I so did not see it coming! You're welcome to come back whenever you want!"

"I trust you did like our cooking." MagicMan's operator continued, always with that calm demeanor and his eyes closed. "And we sincerely hope you'll stop by us again soon."

"Heheheee... you can count on that, guys!" Netto answered melodramatically, an expression of extreme joy painted on his face. "I've been waiting all my life to taste such a delicious curry! Kudos to you!"

"I second Netto-kun on this! That was the best curry I have ever tasted! Who'd ever think you were so good in the kitchen?" Dekao went on.

"Heh, well... What can we say about it, it appears we and our Navis have found our true calling!" Kenichi happily answered. "Anyway, thanks for stopping at the Maha Ichiban... and have a good evening!"

"See ya! Thank you very much!"

Netto and his friends bowed politely, then waved their hands as they started their way back home, with the former WWW operators keeping their eyes on them as they walked away under the bright street lights. Finally, when even the last one of them had exited from their view, Madoi took a deep breath... then, she sighed nervously and placed her hand on her forehead.

"Ugh, for cryin' out loud..." the female ex-WWW agent grumbled. "Who'd ever have guessed that the twerp was a curry fan? When you guys told me him and his comrades had come here for dinner, I almost had an heartstroke... for the second time this evening, I might add!" The last sentence was uttered with a sideways, annoyed glance to the impassive Maha Jarama.

"Keh. And you thought we excepted that?" Kenichi murmured. "For a second, I thought it was a nightmare of some sort! Bah, anyway, they caused no problem after all. They came, they ate, and they paid their bills like everybody else! We can rest easy knowing that our cover is still on."

"Indeed." Maha Jarama answered in a low voice, as if he tried not to reveal himself. "The restaurant idea was a good one. It allowed us and our NetNavis to remain clear of suspicion and authorities as we wait for Lord Wily's and the WWW's return to glory."

"And I, for once, am impatient for that to happen! Aaaah, the good old days of mindless fun!" Count Jack declared, as he thought back of when their old organization had caused all sort of online chaos in their search of the Elemental Programs. It was always good fun to commit their little crimes and get away from under the Officials' noses... at least until that spoilsport of a blue NetNavi and that nosey bandanna kid had appeared out of nowhere and thrown a wrench in their plans. Now the WWW was no more, no thanks to those two, and their leader had disappeared to who-knows-where... but the Net-criminal quartet knew all too well that Dr. Wily wasn't the kind of man who'd die easily; he would surely be back, had they been patient enough...

"I am convinced that will come to pass before long." Maha Jarama answered. "Still, for now we have to keep our charade going and maintain a low profile. As they say, 'good things come to those who wait'."

"That was something I never heard from you..." Kenichi, the most impatient and impulsive of the bunch, concluded. "To wait... not a word I am a great fan of but heck... I guess it can't be helped..."

Madoi stifled a yawn and lazily put an hand in front of her mouth. "Yaaaawn... look, guys, I guess we might as well start closing... We take the last customers' bills, we disconnect our NetNavis, and be on our merry way. After all, this was quite a profitable day..."

Her three comrades nodded silently, and the four of them went back inside, silently making their way among the tables and the few remaining customers, who were just then asking for their bills. Maha Jarama reached the cashier, to which MagicMan's PET was connected, and started writing out, as his three comrades went back to the kitchen for the last checkings.

"So, ColourMan, how are things around here?" Madoi asked, nearing the last-generation dish-washing machine to which her colourful NetNavi's PET was connected. "Did you manage to work the darn machine without breaking anything, this time around?"

On the small electronic device's screen, ColourMan saluted and answered in his chirp, somewhat silly, tone. "Of course I did, Madoi-chan, and I'm even nearly done with it! Whenever you want, I start up the automatic dryer, and I'm off! Wow, this dishwasher sure has a lot of functions! To work at it is such a blast!"

The orange-haired young woman rolled her eyes. Her NetNavi sure had the attention span of a rodent... either it was a miracle that he hadn't broken anything yet, or that was because fun was one of the few things ColourMan was serious about!

Meanwhile, Kenichi and Jack were at the stoves, and were talking to their NetNavis through the PET screens. "Alright, FireMan, it's almost closing time. Can I disconnect you now?" Kenichi asked his Navi.

In the restaurant's network, FireMan raised his glance from the gas controls he was working at, which greatly resembled real-life gas ducts. "Yeah, Ken... just wait a second!" he answered gruffly. "We have to check some things out, and make sure the gas output is down before we can close everything."

"Alright, FireMan... meanwhile, we'll just handle things outta here!" the red-haired young man answered, before placing his PET back down near the stoves, its jack-in cord still linked to the port. The flaming Navi immediately went back to his work, carefully scrutinizing the valves to make sure there weren't any leaks. Finally, the check complete, FireMan nodded to himself and was about to call for his companions...

...when a sudden flash, coming from behind him (right where MegaMan had appeared before, as a matter of fact) drew the attention of the Navi quartet. A flash that, no doubt about it, was due to another NetNavi getting inside of the system.

"Huh? Now what..." ElecMan started, before the light died down and deposited the newcomer NetNavi in front of his and his friends' eyes: a small NetNavi, about as short as IceMan, wearing a dull gray bodysuit, black elbow-long gloves and white boots had appeared inside the premises' network and had bowed politely to the four NetNavi as to greet them. A vivacious expression was painted on his round face, and a pair of beady, swift black eyes peered from under a pointed beret similar to an elf's. The most distinguishing feature, however, was the uneven, diagonal moustache (or, at least, that's what it looked like) showing under his nose, and the strange object, still too distant to be clearly recognized, he was carrying on his back...

"Hey! Who the heck are you? Who gave you the permission to get in this local's network?" ElecMan asked threateningly, taking a step towards him.

Unconcerned of the aggressive Elec-type NetNavi approaching him, the newcomer raised his hand and spoke in a calm, demure, almost baritone voice that deeply contrasted with his nimble appearance. "Good evening to you, gentlemen. I hope you will excuse for the inconvenience, but I am here on the behalf of SciLab. I and my operator are therefore allowed to jack-in anywhere, on the condition of a pending emergency." he started, impeccably polite. Then, he raised his left hand, and a shining sixteen-digit ID code appeared in midair, as proof of his claim of being an Official. "As you can see, this is my ID code, and my name is TimeMan."

Still working at the electronic cashier, MagicMan frowned almost invisibly. While he wasn't showing it, he was in fact somewhat alarmed by that unexpected visit. An Official Navi, coming from SciLab of all places? And here he was sure that their cover would have worked like a charm...

In front of a SciLab ID code, even FireMan, ElecMan and ColourMan stopped right in their tracks. Just then, thanks to the reduced distance between them, they saw that what looked like a moustache on the small Navi's face were, in fact, the hour hand and the minute hand of a clock, one of them pointing to four, the other to eight... which really made his face look like some sort of giant walking clock. His icon, drawn on his abdomen instead of the usual place in the chest, was a clock-face showing three o'clock, and the 'strange object' he was carrying like a backpack was a huge hourglass, whose sand sometimes ran backwards, defyng the law of gravity. Finally, on TimeMan's right wrist, there was some sort of miniature sundial.

As if he could read the four NetNavi's thoughts, TimeMan smiled amiably, dissipating their earlier worries. "No, don't worry. You are not in trouble with the law, if this is what you were afraid of. I have only come here to make you an offer I am sure you will come to like. An offer that many NetNavis before you already have accepted." he explained.

FireMan and ColourMan, somewhat confused themselves, looked at each other in puzzlement, as the four operators, now curious about the voices they had heard from the PETs' screens, seized the portable computer to see what was going on.

"Hey, ColourMan, what's up? Is there any problem?" Madoi asked.

The clownish NetNavi turned to his operator. "It's an Official Navi, Madoi... he says he's here to make us an interesting offer, whatever it is..."

"An... interesting offer?" Count Jack echoed, caught off guard himself. "And... what's that all about?"

TimeMan cleared his throat, as his hourglass' sands began running backwards. "Hm-hm... all right then: I suppose you have already received word of the Zero Virus issue, have you not? In other networks, an unusual virus began spreading and infecting NetNavis instead of electronic devices... and, once infected with it, NetNavi begin behaving erratically. Already a long streak of online disorders can be traced back to this new virus, and international authorities are desperately trying to stem this dangerous Net-epidemic." the small Navi explained, not in the least awed by being near a trio of Navis who stood at least twice as tall as him.

Through the PET's screens, even Kenichi and his friends had intently listened to TimeMan's explanation... of course they had heard of this new 'Zero Virus' thing, an e-mail about it had been from SciLab to the whole populace no later than one day before! And they, too, were a bit worried about such news, especially considering there were no known counter-measures for the thing...

"Huh... of course, we did hear about it..." FireMan answered. "But what does this have to do with..."

A clever smirk graced TimeMan's thin lips. "I am honored to be the bringer of good news, then." he answered. "Just today, SciLab managed to develop a temporary anti-Zero vaccine program, whose distribution to the populace of ACDC Town and neighbouring areas has begun only a few hours ago. It does cost a little, that much cannot be denied... but it should keep your NetNavis safe from contagion for a sizeable time window, and the proceeds will be used for the development of a final version of this vaccine. So, what I am offering to you is a bargain for both you and us Officials... it will keep you safe from contagion, and will help us protect you in a more efficient manner. You would agree that it is quite an interesting thing..."

MagicMan, after asking the remaining customer Navis to wait for a little longer, left the cashier and approached TimeMan himself. "The offer you make is interesting in the most. The question is, how much to us will it cost?" he asked, once again talking in rhyme.

"Well, of course it will not be for free..." the grey time-watching Navi admitted. "Still... I dare say that allowing you to sleep tight at least for a while, as we develop the final version of the vaccine, should be worth at least a thousand Zennys, should it not? Of course, all the NetNavis here..." he nodded to the norm-version Navis in a queue at the cashier, whose attention was now all to what was going on. "...are also welcome to our offer. For a thousand Zennys, you will be protected from the Zero Virus, as you wait for a definite solution. So, what will it be?"

The NetNavis standing at the cashier did not seem hesitant, and after receiving their operators' consent, they formed a small group around TimeMan, eager to try out the new vaccine program. Smiling in satisfaction, the small grey NetNavi began collecting the money, and handing out small, rectangular yellow packages that easily fit in the palm of his hand.

"There you are! Thank you very much! This is our temporary anti-Zero program... all you have to do is install it in your program, and you will be guaranteed 100 protection." he explained, as he began handing out his programs.

In the real world, the former WWW operators exchanged inquisitory glances among themselves, as if silently asking each other whether they should accept the anti-virus program. And the decision was definitely no an hard one to make...

"Well, I don't see why not..." Count Jack began. "This Zero Virus thingie IS quite a pain in the neck, after all, so a little more protection won't hurt, now will it?"

Kenichi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, well... tell ya what, I'm buying it as well... one thousand zennys is hardly a big thing, after all..."

"If that's the case... guess I should buy one myself!" Madoi went on after deliberating a little bit to herself.

Finally, Maha Jarama give a silent nod, and turned to MagicMan. "Then, it is settled. MagicMan, buy four copies of the vaccine program, please."

"I shall do as my operator wills..." the wizard Navi answered, before turning once again to TimeMan as the time-measuring Navi finished giving out vaccines and receiving payments. "TimeMan, to be sure, we won't risk any ills. Four copies, and please hand out our bills."

TimeMan's funny-looking face gave out a small, satisfied smirk. "Excellent! That was a very wise move on your part, gentlemen! You definitely will not regret it!" he exclaimed as he turned back to the former criminals' NetNavis, who soon received their own vaccine packages. "As I said, all you have to do to enjoy protection from the Zero Virus is to install these programs in your system... a quick and painless procedure, you might agree with me... Well, that will be four thousands Zennys altogether! Thank you for your cooperation!"

"It was nothing, indeed. Our thanks goes to you for your deed." MagicMan answered as the Net-money passed from his hands to TimeMan's. The small NetNavi acknowledged his customers' greeting with a small nod, before his body turned into a LOGOUT word, and he jacked out, leaving the four ex-WWW NetNavis to serve the remaining customers.

"Very, very, very good!" ColourMan exclaimed, hopping around on his balloon as he admired the yellow package in his oversized hand. "Now we can sleep tight! The Zero Virus is yesterday's news for us!"

"We shall install this program later on..." MagicMan replied, as the clown Navi hopped back to the dishwasher's controls, and he went back to his workplace. "We have still some customers staying on. And work will not be put aside for anyone."

"Alright..." ElecMan and FireMan sighed together, somewhat annoyed at MagicMan's debatable rhymes. After they put away their copy of the Anti-Zero vaccine, the Fire-type and the Elec-type NetNavi went back to their assignments, happily ignorant of what they had actually purchased...

----------

"So, TimeMan? What are the earnings for this evening?" a shrieky voice, belonging to the bespectacled girl in sailor suit seated in the Maha Ichiban's main lounge only a couple of hours before. The young woman was now in the restaurant's backyard, having somehow managed to sneak in undetected, and her PET was connected to the same device from which Netto and MegaMan had jacked in earlier...

On the portable computer's screen, TimeMan's tiny figure was holding an azure, dimly shining prisma-like shape in his hand. "Today's gain was even better than anticipated, Megan! With this place, we have come to 25 thousand Zennys, and twenty-five ignorant Navis who have no idea what we have actually given them! Hehehee... it sure is easy to deceive these fools, now is it not?"

The girl named Megan smirked contempuously, the lenses of her glasses shining. "Heh... after all, TimeMan, what could we expect from them? Since we're surrounded by idiots, it wasn't hard at all to gather this nice little sum... and thanks to a few stolen Official ID cards, it is no problem for us to pretend we come from SciLab! Yeah, I think Doppler-hakase will be satisfied! But now, I guess it's time to get away from here before Officials suspect anything... right?"

"Definitely, my dear Megan!"

After jacking out, Megan hooked her PET to her skirt and nimbly slipped near the backyard wall, before taking a small hop and climbing it with an agility one would not have expected of her. After pulling herself up, she looked around to make sure nobody could notice her... and finally, seeing there was no one in sight, she hopped down and landed on the sidewalk, before rushing to a small, dark side street in which she disappeared...

...but not before she was noticed by another feminine figure, herself hidden in a dark street corner...

The silence of the night cast its heavy shadow once again on the vehicle-free main street of ACDC Town... but did not last more than a few seconds before the slow, quiet footsteps of the young woman hidden in the shadows interrupted it. A pair of green eyes surveyed calmly and attentively at the same time the street Megan had hidden herself in, and a soft voice, appearently devoid of feelings, spoke.

"You saw her... right, SkullMan?"

From the PET the girl hidden in the dark was holding came a raspy, almost spectral voice. "I did, Miyuki... and the whole thing is very suspicious, I have to say. What do you plan to do?"

"I shall warn Commander Beef and Saloma-chan about it." Miyuki answered, still not betraying any apprehension. "I am convinced something very dangerous is brewing around here..."

TO BE CONTINUED...

A.N.: By the way, I apologize for the lousy phrases I put in MagicMan's mouth, but it's quite hard to rhyme in English... I had to make do, and I hope I didn't detract from the spirit of the series!

See you again... and reviews are always welcome, if you decide to leave one!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - FireMan's Fist of Fury!**

"Aaah, that was a great evening! So, guys... see you tomorrow at school!" Netto Hikari greeted as he stood in front of his home's entrance, where his mother had had come to greet him. After spending a little more time together, taking a slow stroll through the dimly-illuminated streets of ACDC Town, the group of schoolchildren and their NetNavis were giving each other the last goodbyes, before returning each to their own houses and turning in for the night.

"Good night, everyone! And see you tomorrow like always! Take care!" MegaMan replied from his PET's screen.

Roll winked at the blue NetNavi. "Good night, Mega! Good night, Netto-kun! See you!"

"See you tomorrow then, Netto-kun... MegaMan..." It was Meiru's turn now to say goodnight to her childhood friend. One by one, even the other children and NetNavis gave their last greetings, and went their separate ways, glad the day had been good to all of them. A rare good grade in math for Netto and Dekao, an happy dinner in a new restaurant, and an unexpected, yet friendly reunion with a few old adversaries. After all, hardly anything could have been better...

And that is how far the children were from imagining what storm was condensing above their heads...

As soon as their friends were gone, Meiru and Dekao each heading towards the small houses adjacent to Netto's, Yaito walking to her huge luxury house, and Tohru getting into a side street, Netto and MegaMan quickly raced to their housedoor, where Mrs. Hikari was waiting for them with her usual maternal smile on her face. "Welcome home, my little boys!" Haruka greeted them. "So... Netto-chan, Saito-chan, how was the evening, did you have fun? Was it a nice place?"

"Hi, Mom!" the two brothers replied in unison, before Netto answered the last questions. "Oh, yes, it was a terrific evening! That new place is the end of the world! They make the most delicious curry I ever had tasted... after yours, that is!"

MegaMan chuckled in amusement. Whenever Netto wanted to ingratiate himself with Mom and Dad, he knew which strings were to be pulled...

Haruka giggled herself before running her gentle hand through Netto's chestnut hair and ruffling them. "I see, young man, I see... you want to keep me quiet, huh? Hehehee... anyway, boys, come in and tell me about it, how was this new Maha Ichiban place? Is it any good?"

"Of course it is... but the greatest surprise was to see who the owners were!" MegaMan answered. "Now, let's get inside, so we can talk more calmly about it..."

"Really?" Haruka questioned. "Then, by all means! I'm curious to know..."

----------

Meanwhile, in ACDC Town's network...

"Aaaaah! That's the life!" a NormNavi clad in green exclaimed, as he slowly walked around the CyberWorld streets together with a group of friends. Surrounding them were wire-framed walls and background elements such as trees, bushes and advertising posters, of such realism as to leave anyone dumbfound. The CyberWorld, evidently, had evolved to a point where it was almost identical to the Real World...

"It sure is a lot more peaceful around here, now that the WWW is yesterday's news! No more viruses milling around, no more wackjobs trying to ruin our lives with their haphzard plans.." the green Navi went on as he looked around himself in satisfaction.

A companion of his, who was identical to him if not for the fact that he wore a purple suit, took a deep brath before answering. "You can say that again! Now one can go around the Net without having to constantly watch around himself! It was far too long since I tasted such peace!" he said, his eyes wandering to the immense blue sky stretching above.

Another, more skeptical, green NormNavi wanted to put his two cents in. "Aren't you getting a little too laid back, guys? Remember that, just because the World Three is done for, it doesn't mean Net-Crime has disappeared. Something bad might happen when you least expect it..."

"Such optimist, huh?" the purple Navi answered. "Come on, try not to always be so uptight! I understand us NetNavis always have to be on guard, and be always ready in case some viruses show up... but this doesn't mean we can't have some distraction once in a while, now does it?"

"Alright, whatever you say..." the third Navi replied... before he suddenly stopped and looked to the horizon in alarm. "Just... just a second, what's that right there? Guys, will you look at that! Don't you see that strange light?"

The first NetNavi scoffed. "Still with this paranoia of yours, huh? We told you, now we don't run any more risks! The WWW is gone, and Net-Crime s now under control..."

The purple Navi stopped his compatriot by raising an hand and signaling him to stop in his tracks. "Wait! Hold on a second... he's right, look at that! There really is something right there! Don't you see it?" he asked, pointing to the same place his friend was referring to.

"What is it?" the first one asked in annoyance. "What are you talking about, I don't see... hold... hold on a second!"

What the other two NetNavis were talking about showed up even to their brethren's eyes: a weird sphere of reddish-orange light which glowed in the distance, surrounded by like-colored flames and several smaller explosions. A thick curtain of black smoke floated upwards from that same place, making it all too clear that a battle, or something even far worse, was taking place!

"What... what's going on?" the first NormNavi asked himself. "Who's caused that ruckus down there...?"

His answer came earlier than he would have liked, when an enormous crimson flame erupted from the place and darted towards him, narrowly missing him and almost smothering him in a wave of suffocating heat. The three NetNavi screamed in horror as the responsible for all that mess charged towards them at ludicrous speed, a blazing scarlet flame trailing his every movement...

...and in a few seconds, a raging FireMan was right in front of them, the two flamethrowers he had instead of hands both pointed towards them! The three Navi dispersed in a collective scream of terror and got away as soon as possible when a violent stream of red-hot flames burst forth from the pyromaniac NetNavi's arms, and the cyber-street lit up in blinding crimson. Unable to control his own actions, his innaturally glowing yellow eyes darting everywhere, FireMan raised his arms to the cyber-sky and screamed in rage, before shooting another flame upwards, and getting back to his task of destruction! The fire NetNavi's voice was etched with blind fury, terrible to hear, and he was venting an incontrollable destructive will on everything surrounding him! Nothing that stood before him seemed safe, and in the space of a few seconds, FireMan was standing triumphantly in the middle of the scorched that, barely a few seconds before, had seen the peaceful conversation of a trio of friends...

But the fire NetNavi's anger had still not been quenched. Roaring once again, FireMan restarted his rampage, closely followed by lambent blazes, no other Navi bearing the courage to stand in his way. Unstoppable, FireMan reached a square and lit up everything surrounding him... then, his rage-deformed eyes, still in search of something to destroy, placed themselves upon a cyber-link stannding no more than ten meters apart... a link that, even to his now-unsound mind, meant the memory of a humiliating defeat...

Yes, he remembered that link all too well... it was the link to the Hikari household's network! Trembling in rage, FireMan stepped menacingly towards the teleport panel, and the first coherent word he had ever pronounced since the start of his fury burst forth from his mouth...

"MEEEEEGAAAAAMAAAAAN!" FireMan howled hoarsely. He quicken his pace, getting ever closer to the entrance of the Hikari family's server, like a wounded bear about to pounce of the daring fool who had caused it harm...

----------

"And so, we had discovered that the place's owners were those guys I told you about before that Life Virus thing!" Netto finished his tale as he was sitting on a couch in his house's living room, in front of his intently-listening mother. "Yeah, exactly those guys that were helping Dr. Wily in his plans! They decided to run straight, and now they're working there, at the new restaurant!"

"Wow, is that so? It is a surprise, but I'm happy for them!" Haruka answered, her hands clasped in front of them. "So... even their NetNavis work there, I guess."

MegaMan nodded. "Yes, I personally spoke to them! They too seem to want to work honestly!" the blue-clad NetNavi answered. "Sure, ElecMan didn't seem to enthusiastic about working at the stoves, but apart from that... they all were in agreement with their operator's choice. And I do sincerely hope they will be successful!"

"Other than that, this Maha Ichiban is a great place, even if it isn't that modern... and the food is excellent as well!" Netto went on. "Yeah, it was a pleasant surprise to see them again!"

"I'm very glad to hear that!" Haruka concluded as she stood up from the couch, her usual motherly smile playing on her face. "But now, boys, I guess it's bedtime: it's almost eleven o'clock, and you don't want to risk running late for school tomorrow as well, right?"

Netto put on his best puppy face in the attempt of convincing his mother to let him stay awake a little more. "But... mommy, it's _only_ eleven o'clock! It's still early to go to bed!" he jokingly protested.

"Exactly because it's so early, it's a good idea to go to sleep now!" MegaMan answered, smirking astutely. "Therefore, you won't have any excuse to turn on one side and go back to sleep when I'll call you tomorrow morning!"

"You brother is right, Netto-chan..." Haruka answered calmly. "Come on now, get your backpack ready, brush your teeth... and then we go to bed, okay?" Even if a little reluctant, Netto sighed and nodded his head...

BRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNG!

All of a sudden, the house's fire alarm came alive with a deafening ring, forcing the Hikari family members in the air in a startled leap. Mother and son turned to the kitchen... and, in a scary moment, they saw an unsettling cloud of black smoke rising from the oven's door, joined by a few lambent red blazes! Netto put an hand in front of his mouth as he saw the smoke saturating the kitchen and beginning to invade the living room. It all had happened so quickly, the three of them still weren't sure of what was going on... but they knew all too well that they were in danger!

"Oh, my..." Haruka exclaimed, an hand in front of her mouth herself to avoid breathing the suffocating smoke, as she inched towards the window. "What... what is... oh, good heavens, it happened again! There is a virus in the oven's program!"

"Cough... cough... again? Just like two months ago..." Netto choked. In fact, the young boy and his NetNavi remembered that it was a similar episode to make them fall in the WWW's web... Kenichi had posed as a technician, and had managed to send FireMan into the oven's program, almost causing a fire! And it was all to get his hands of the FireCode! Now, it was happening all over again!

As Haruka threw the window open and allowed the smoke to flow out, MegaMan pointed to the oven. "Netto! Jack me in to the kitchen's server! If there actually is a virus, I'll take care of the busting!"

Netto nodded, and quickly put his hand into one of his coat's pockets, to produce a few Battlechips. "Acknowledge, MegaMan! Mom, you stay here in the living room... we'll take care of the virus!"

"Alright... but please, boys, do be careful!" Haruka pleaded with a nod. Both Netto and MegaMa gave a thumbs-up... then, the boy took a deep breath, filling his lungs with oxygen, and ran to the kitchen's window, diving through the thick smoke and the intense heat. He reached the window and threw it open with a simple gesture of his arm, allowing the room to get more fresh air... then, after the conditions had become more hospitable, he neared the oven's scalding door and reached its jack-in port, quickly inserting his PET's plug into it!

"Here we go! _Jack in, MegaMan! Power up!_"

----------

From MegaMan's point of view, the world dissolved into a shower of multicolored pixels as his data were transferred from his PET to the control server of the Hikari household's oven. For a few instants, he felt himself floating weightlessly in a tunnel of white and azure light... then, he materialized again on a platform of red marble inside the control system. He grit his teeth and wrinkled his nose as the heat slammed him square in the face... then, as soon as the data transfer was complete, the Blue Bomber opened his eyes and looked around, stunned at the sight of fiery destruction surrounding him: several sections of the computer system were ablaze, the terrain hot to the point of pulsating with a red brilliance, and the cyber-sky above him was crisscrossed with flashes of scarlet. In other words, it looked like a veritable furnace!

"N-Netto..." MegaMan coughed, almost smothered by the infernal heat. "We've got... a bad situation down here! This must be a mass attack! Do you have some Aqua-type Battlechips? I'm afraid we'll need them now..."

"Yeah, MegaMan, I got some of them... I'm sending them right away!" Netto answered from the real world. "By the way, can you see those viruses? What kind are we dealing with?"

Using his arms to shield his own face, MegaMan squinted his eyes as he observed the flames running and raging everywhere. He was obviously expecting to see some Fire-type viruses, such as VolGears or Spikeys... but, much to his surprise, he was none of them! The flames seemed to have come alive without anything having been done by anyone... but it obviously couldn't be that way!

"I... I don't understand, Netto-kun! There is nothing here! Not a single virus!" MegaMan answered. "It must have been a NetNavi to do this!"

When Netto answered back, his NetNavi could clearly hear the surprise in his voice. "Wha...? A... A NetNavi...? But... who could have had... oh, well, no matter, we'll think about that later! MegaMan, I'm sending Battlechips! Try to put out the fire!"

"Acknowledge!" the NetNavi concluded, pointing his MegaBuster to the flames surrounding him. In the real world, Netto took a Battlechip out of his folder, checked it for a second... and, with a swift gesture of his arm, slotted it in his PET!

"_Battlechip Bubbler in! Download!_" the young boy exclaimed. Immediately, MegaMan's right arm morphed into a sprinkler, and the blue Navi took accurate aim to the base of the nearest fire... before shooting a series of water spheres that struck true to ther mark! Immediately, the flames began dying down, and after MegaMan had shot them again with his water gun, they were quenched in a puff of smoke and a hiss of cooling iron. MegaMan ran a hand on his forehead, then ran to another fire and gave it the same treatment before the Battlechip's effect expired and his arm reverted back to normal. Netto, who was watching the scene from his PET's main screen, winked in appreciation.

"You did great, MegaMan!" Netto exclaimed. "Keep it up, I'm sending another Bubbler..."

All of a sudden, the blue NetNavi turned to a particularly large flame, roaring a couple dozen meters beside him. Netto could see that he was alarmed, and this impression was confirmed by what he subsequently said. "Wait, Netto-kun! I feel another Navi around here! The one responsible for this fire is still around, and he is getting closer!" The words hadn't entirely left his lips when a menacing black figure appeared in among the flames, completely impervious to the suffocating heat, and began approaching with a slow yet steady pacing. MegaMan frowned and raised his MegaBuster once again, getting ready for the inevitable battle...

"Oh, cripes, you're right... there he is, in fact!" Netto commented, before adressing the mysterious pyromaniac Navi. "Hey, you! Who are you, and what's the big idea of torching our home's oven program? Do you get a kick out of randomly burning things around the Net?"

The opposing NetNavi did not even seem to hear the question. His pace fastened, and from his vocal cords came a terrible, loud roar filled with rage and desire for payback!

"MEEEEEEGAMAAAAAAN!"

Then, with animalistic fury, the Fire-type Navi literally threw himself towards MegaMan, followed by a trail of flames and finally revealing his appearence! MegaMan felt his breath getting caught in his throat as he recognized him...

"FireMan?" he exclaimed in dismay as the familiar funnel-headed NetNavi appeared in front of him. "What... what are you doing... Aaaargh!" He was forced to beat an hasty retreat to avoid the mighty back-handed blow FireMan tried to nail him with, slid on the scalding floor for a short distance, and finally stood up again, shooting an hail of azure energy MegaBuster blasts against the flaming NetNavi. However, his opponent nimbly dodged the attack and charged again, not allowing MegaMan a chance to regroup!

"Oh, no! Hold on, MegaMan! _Battlechip Sword in! Download!_" Netto shouted as he inserted another chip in his PET. In the young boy's mind, both worry for his NetNavi's safety and indignation for that gratitious attack were bubbling! And here he thought FireMan had changed his ways... he thought he was a Net-criminal no more... instead, there he was, once again trying to set his home ablaze!

As MegaMan right arm morphed in a short white-azure beam sword, that the Navi used to block a terribly powerful overhead blow, Netto's indignated voice reached his ears once again. "Darn it! Then I was right to be suspicious! Those scoundrels only tried to make us believe they had reformed and were working honestly! When in truth, they were only waiting for the right moment to get heir revenge on us! And we even went as far as to trust them!"

MegaMan bent on one knee as FireMan, with another enraged shout, pressed harder with his offending arm. Even under pressure, the Blue Bomber was able to think about the situation and what was going on. What Netto was saying was understandable, all things considered... but something told MegaMan that, this time, Kenichi and his friends had nothing to do with this... first off, why would they attack their home's oven once again, if there were no more programs to be stolen? Maybe for revenge, all right, but it still didn't make sense... otherwise, why would the former WWW gang go out of their way to make them believe they had changed? Only to betray themselves a few hours later?

Secondly, why wasn't FireMan using any Battlechip at all... and, above all, now that MegaMan could clearly see FireMan's face, why were his eyes glowing with that strange yellowish tint and appeared almost vacuous? There was something else...

"FireMan! FireMan, can you hear me? What's going on? Why are you doing this?" MegaMan demanded as he tried to push the Fire-type NetNavi away from himself...

His question was never answered. Roaring again in rage, FireMan increased the pressure, and MegaMan felt himself struggling against an innatural strenght... he never remembered Kenichi's NetNavi to be this strong! The more he thought about it, the more he saw that something bad had happened to him...

"Look out, MegaMan! He's about to strike again!" Netto exclaimed, calling for his NetNavi's attention on his opponent. FireMan bellowed, then raised his arms and swiftly brought them down, delivering a tremendous punch to MegaMan and toosing him aside like a rag doll! Luckily, MegaMan managed to almost immediately get up... but only to find himself facing FireMan's blazing blowers a few meters in front of his face!

Only his lightning reflexes saved MegaMan from a fiery doom: as soon as he saw the fire lighting up inside the cannons, the blue Navi threw himself sideways, just a second before a raging fire blast erupted from FireMan's blowers, engulfing the spot where MegaMan was standing! MegaMan grit his teeth as the intense heat slammed against his face, but managed to keep his balance and strike back as FireMan's guard was lowered!

"Now, MegaMan! _Battlechip Cannon in! Download!_". With these words, Netto slotted in another Battlechip, and MegaMan's arm soon morphed into a large cannon and shot an energy ball that struck FireMan head-on in his chest, making him fall prone! His flamethrowers immediately stopped, and FireMan grunted in paion before falling with a loud bang. MegaMan breathed a temporary sigh of relief, but his opponent climbed back up in almost no time and attacked again, this time with a stream of fireballs. Luckily, Netto had already activated a new Battlechip, a Guard Battlechip, and had protected MegaMan by materializing in front of him a shield similar to a Mettaur's helmet. The flaming bullet crashed on the shield's smooth surface, and the blue NetNavi was pushed backwards somewhat from the sheer force of the impact, but suffered no real damage. Angered, FireMan raised his arms once again and, before MegaMan could react, shot another barrage of burning spheres, this time aiming to the firey red cyber-sky above them!

In unison, Netto and MegaMan widened their eyes. They had already seen that attack... but FireMan was putting a lot more 'ooomph' into it this time!

With but a gesture of his arm, the Fire-type NetNavi ordered his bullets to turn around, and all of his shots executed a mid-air arc before violently raining down on MegaMan, whose shield had just then faded out of existance! The Blue Bomber quickly dashed away and somersaulted to the side, managing to dodge the majority of the blow... but one burning meteor fell down and exploded dangerously close to him, and with a brief yell, MegaMan was hurled away by the shockwave and crumpled on the ground in a groggy daze!

"MegaMan! You alright?" a very worried Netto asked his NetNavi-twin brother. Much to his relief, MegaMan immediately got up and shook his head clear before reassuring him with a small nod... but anxiety set in once again as FireMan once again took up the offensive! This time, his blowers sent blazes in all directions, and the pyromaniac Navi slammed both his arms to the floor! A deafening roar announced the rise towards the burning sky of a pair of fire columns that immediately sped towards MegaMan with alarming speed!

Netto grit his teeth. That was FireMan's trademark Fire Tower attack, and it was nothing to sneeze at! As MegaMan tried his best to get out of the flaming pillars' way (and not really managing to do it, since they were trying to follow his every moment...), the young boy checked through his Battlechip deck in search of something to help his Navi with... and, by some incredible stroke of luck, his eye was caught by a pair of Battlechips that could turn the tide of the battle! As the Fire Towers got closer and closer, now taking up all of MegaMan's view, Netto used his first chip!

"_Battlechip AreaGrab in, download!_"

Immediately, MegaMan stepped towards the burning pillars... and phased out, just to reappear a few meters forwards and past the lethal fire twisters! Thanking his Net-Op with a swift thumbs-up, MegaMan dashed towards the now-defenseless FireMan just as Netto slotted in his second Battlechip!

"And to finish this... _Battlechip AquaSword in, download!_". As soon as the second chip slid in the PET, MegaMan's right hand turned into a large sword with a watery blue blade, and the azure Navi covered the rest of the distance between him and FireMan in a quick dash. Before the surprised Fire NetNavi could even attempt to defend himself, MegaMan brought his arm down and struck with a powerful slash!

"AAAAAARRRRRGH!" FireMan bellowed as the aquatic blade struck him, and a thick, white vapor cloud rose up from his body with a loud hiss. As a Fire-type NetNavi, FireMan was particularly vulnerable to Aqua-type attacks, and indeed, one second later, he fell to his knees... and finally collapsed breathlessly to the floor, the yellow glow of his eyes turning back to the usual white, as the Fire Towers he had shot earlier dissipated harmlessly in the distance. Around them, the large arson FireMan had caused was slowly receding, and the Hikari hosehold's oven regulation program was turning back to normal, as if nothing ever happened.

"Phew... we did it, Netto..." MegaMan breathed out. It had been a short, yet intense battle...

"You did great as usual, MegaMan!" his young Net-Operator praised him, as he saw that the flames and the black smoke had stopped coming out of the oven. "That was an excellent job. Still, now I'd like to have a few words with the responsibles for this mess..."

Inside the server, a familiar boyish voice suddenly called for the exhausted FireMan. "Hey, FireMan! FireMan, ya hear me? FireMan!"

"Uuuuuh.." the Fire-type Navi murmured, as he slowly picked himself up with a stunned expression on his face. "Wha... what the heck is... ugh... K-Kenichi, you there? Yeah... I hear you... now I can hear you loud and clear..."

MegaMan could swear he actually heard the red-haired WWW operator sigh in relief. "Great. Jack out, FireMan. Things got hectic enough around here, for today..."

Soon after, FireMan's body turned into the LOGOUT word, and the firey NetNavi vanished from MegaMan's sight in a shower of pixels.

_FIREMAN LOGOUT_

----------

As Haruka went back to the kitchen to check if everything was alright, Netto turned his head to the window he had opened to let out the smoke... and there, in front of his angered chestnut eyes, he found Kenichi Hino's familiar face, framed by his burning red hair and goatee! His PET was connected to the Hikari household's electric counter. At the sight of the young former WWW operator, the boy grit his teeth in anger. That's who he had to thank for that little prank! He, his friends, and those excuses he had put up to make them believe they had actually reformed... it was all just a ruse, and nothing more!

"Hey, here's the culprit!" Netto exclaimed in rage, startling the red-haired young man. "Jack out, MegaMan! We found the guy who tried to burn down our home! Hey, you! Hold it right there, pal, you have something to answer for!"

"W-what?" Kenichi answered in mixed surprise and indignation, puzzlement written all over his face. "Hey! What the heck are you trying to..."

"Wait, Netto-chan!" Haruka called him, trying to calm him down. "Maybe it's not a good idea to..."

Netto, however, was not in the mood to listen to reason. After making sure MegaMan had returned in his PET, the young boy ran to the open window and nimbly jumped through it, landing right in front of Kenichi and stopping him in his tracks before he could run away. He didn't seem really fazed by the fact that the former WWW operator was taller and obviously stronger than he was...

"You owe us an explanation now, my dear Kenichi Hino!" he exclaimed, his index finger pointed towards him. "You told us you and your friends had turned over a new leaf! And we even believed you guys... but you actually were only waiting for the right moment to strike back at us! Isn't it so?"

The red-haired youth stepped backwards and, after disconnecting FireMan, he raised his free hand in front of him in an assuaging gesture. "Wha...? Hey, hey, now! Hold yer horses, kiddo! I have nothing to do with this! I don't know what happened myself! I was about to jack FireMan out of the maintenance system, and out of the blue, he goes nuts and begins burning things left and right... then, after almost blowing up our kitchen, he ran way in the Net! I only managed to find him now!"

"And you think I'm so stupid to believe that? Don't take me for a fool!" a very unconvinced Netto shot back.

It was then that MegaMan though it proper to intervene in the discussion. "Wait, Netto! I don't think Kenichi is lying!" the blue NetNavi said. His Net-Operator's enraged expression immediately turned to one of surprise and puzzlement, and for a few seconds, he remained still, his mouth slightly hanging open, as he tried to find the right words to answer.

"What...? MegaMan, what are you saying? What's this all about?" he asked.

"What I'm saying is... I think Kenichi is telling the truth! He and FireMan know nothing of what just happened!" MegaMan answered. "First off... while I was fighting against him, it seemed to me that FireMan was controlled by somone else! Furthermore, he didn't use any Battlechip at all! Don't you think it's a little strange? If it was really Kenichi to operate him, he would have sent a few Battlechips to aid him in the battle, right?"

Netto tried to open his mouth and answer... but he quickly stopped himself as he realized that his NetNavi was absolutely right!

"I think you should listen to that NetNavi of yours!" Kenichi answered in his stead. "As I just said, something strange happened to FireMan, and he just went ballistic then and there! Hey, FireMan! Do you remember what happened in the last few minutes?"

On the screen of Kenichi's PET, the flaming Navi shook his head, and placed an hand-blower on his forehead. "Uuuugh... no, Ken, I just can't remember... It's all just a blank to me... last thing I remember, is me and the others installing those programs... then, while I was checking out the stove and gas programs... everything went black! I don't remember what just went on..."

Netto blinked in surprise. This is something he didn't see coming... and that was when he saw that a few people, alarmed by the fire alarm coming from his house, had gathered there and were intently watching the confrontation between him and the former WWW operator. Among them, Netto saw his neighbors, Meiru and Dekao, still dressed in their everyday clothes and running worriedly towards him...

"Netto-kun!" the fucsia-haired girl said, quickly catching up with her friend. "Netto-kun, we heard the fire alarm! What's going on here?"

"You alright, everyone? And what's this guy doing here?" Dekao asked, pointing to Kenichi. "Another of their plans, is it?"

Netto shook his head, still a little weirded out by the whole thing, and his friend as well were surprised by his sudden revelation. "Er... actually, no, guys, it doesn't seem so! From what it appears... not even Kenichi-san and FireMan know nothing of what just went on... oh, by the way, Kenichi-san! What about the others? Are they still..."

"When FireMan went crazy, they immediately joined me in my search..." answered the firey-haired Net-Op, before taking a glance towards the road and seeing his friends, PETs in their hands, heading towards them with a quick pace. "Oh, here they are! Hey, guys! Right here! I just found FireMan!"

The small, chattering group of people that had reunited there immediately made way to Count Jack, Madoi and Maha Jarama, who joined their companion and the three fifth-grade Net-Battlers a few moments later.

"Phew.. wow... that's a relief, for a second I thought he was going to blow everything up down there..." The rock-music-loving Count wheezed as he got his breath back after his run. Then, his eyes fell on Netto, Meiru and Dekao. "Ah, you too here... so I guess the fireworks have already died down, right?"

"You could say that..." MegaMan answered, before casting a quick glance at the PETs of the three former WWW operators. "But what about your NetNavis? Are they okay, or is there a problem with them as well?"

"Hmmm... no, guess not..." Madoi answered, her nose wrinkled in uncertainty, while Maha slowly shook his head. "Hey, ColourMan! Does anything feel funny on your side? You alright?"

On the oddly-dressed female operator's screen, the clownish Navi slowly nodded... although he didn't really seem in tiptop shape, considering he was blackened all over, and his hair were comically slanted backwards, as if someone had just blown an hair-dryed in his face! "Phew... yeah, I'm all right, Madoi-chan... still, I would be better if FireMan hadn't tried to make a barbecue out of me, a few moments ago! That was no fun at all!"

The orange-haired girl rolled her eyes. "He's alright..."

"I am more or less okay as well..." ElecMan grumbled from Count Jack's PET. He was doing a circular motion with one arm, as if he was trying to chase a little pain away from it. "I was about to get toasted as well, but I can live with that... It's just that I don't understand what just went into FireMan! One moment he was alright, and the next he's shooting flames left and right like a lunatic!"

Kenichi and FireMan shook their heads. "I... really don't know how it happened, guys... I just don't have any recollection..." the flaming Navi commented.

Such news only managed to further confuse Netto and his friends, who just couldn't see how FireMan could have gone mad all of a sudden. If it really wasn't Kenichi, and in fact everything pointed to his innocence... then who could have taken control of his NetNavi and force him to operate against his will? Netto cast a questioning glance to his mom, who only shook her head in puzzlement, and then to his two friends.

"This IS a strange thing, de guts..." came GutsMan's comment from Dekao's PET.

Roll, too, was at a loss about the whole thing. "Guys, I'm sorry... I don't know what could have happened myself! Kenichi-san, are you sure you have taken all the necessary anti-virus measures, recently? Didn't anything escape you, by chance?" the pink-clad female NetNavi asked, only to be answered by an affirmative nod.

"Yeah, I'm hands-down sure..." Kenichi answered. "Already this morning, I verified FireMan's function, and nothing was out of the norm. So, I really can't see what's gotten into him..."

"Maybe..." Netto thought aloud, as his mind went back to the e-mail he received from SciLab not too long earlier. "Hey! That's it, why haven't I thought of that before? The Zero Virus! I heard it's beginning to spread even in the Electopian network! Couldn't it be?"

Meiru blinked, and stood for a few seconds to reflect about what her childhood friend had said. "The... Zero Virus? Netto-kun, are you talking about that strange unknown virus that makes Navis act erratically? I just recently heard about it..." she asked, still looking uncertain. But, before she could think any further, Maha Jarama drew attention to himself with a cough and shook his head no.

"That's something I could safely exclude..." the Yumland native answered. "Just half an hour ago, when you left our restaurant, a SciLab NetNavi came to our restaurant to sell us a copy of a special anti-Zero Virus program, which we immediately installed... so, I think we can safely put that aside."

As he listened to Maha's explanation, Netto crossed his arm on his chest and wrinkled his nose. That WAS strange, indeed... the e-mail he had received had explicitly said there was still no countermeasure again the Zero Virus... and his mother as well was having similar thought at the moment.

"_All of this makes little sense..._" she reflected, still looking out of her window. "_If the Officials really have developed something against this Zero Virus, why have we heard nothing about it? It seems so strange to me..._"

----------

At the same time, in an unknown section of the World Net...

"Hm, hm, hmmmm... just as we predicted, they didn't acknowledge anything! Our Zero Virus is working wonders!" A small spiky-haired NetNavi smirked, whose thin figure was wrapped in darkness. Inside an abandoned server, previously owned by the World-3, a group of mysterious beings had reunited to discuss the latest developments of their plan, and the NetNavi who had spoken first seemed to be quite satisfied of the results obtained up to that moment...

"To use that fool FireMan as a testbed for our latest version of the Zero Virus was a most excellent idea, my dear TimeMan..." he commented, speaking to one of his accompaining figures. "And thanks to our support and that of your operators, our weapon is quickly spreading in the ACDC Net as well! You did a great job, guys!"

"It was all too easy, StarMan..." the baritone voice of the timekeeping NetNavi answered. "It is all too easy to deceive the humans and NetNavis around here! Just today, I and Megan have gathered up quite a big sum of money!"

A young voice, belonging to a tall and sleek NetNavi, followed TimeMan's. "I and Seiya have gained a nice sum too, although we would have rather had a little more action! It has been all too long since we last fought against a worthy opponent!"

"Be patient, CrashMan..." answered another NetNavi with a crystalline voice. "For now, keeping a low profile will be enough. If it can interest you, I'm sure that, after what happened today, neither MegaMan.EXE nor the Officials will stay silent. I guess you understand what that means..."

"Heheheee... of course I do, GeminiMan..." was CrashMan's answer. "That means that, with a little luck, I will get my chance to fight the legendary ProtoMan.EXE, the ace NetNavi of SciLab! I've been gunning for this chance for the longest time!"

"We have no time for your nonsense, CrashMan!" an hoarse and gloomy voice, belonging to a clearly non-human NetNavi who had simply popped out of nowhere behind the other three, shot back. "Try to concentrate on your work, and leave your foolish honor for later... As for the rest, StarMan, even our... 'special guest' is doing his own. I think that, all in all, we can say that our work is going smoothly!"

"That's all good, then!" StarMan answered happily, almost in a slip-song voice. "I, too, have good news for you: the programming of both SwordMan and GravityMan is almost complete, and they will soon be able to take their definitive places as guardians of the Zero Account. So, ToxicMan, now you can fully join TimeMan, CrashMan and GeminiMan in their job! You're more than welcome to!"

The nasty grin on the monstrous NetNavi's lips could almost be heard forming. "Huhuhuuu... thanks a lot, StarMan! I and Kenji will do our best not to disappoint you... and we already have a few ideas in mind in case some nosey city NetBattler tries to damage our plans! I guess you already know who I'm talking about..."

A gravelly giggle left StarMan's lips. "Heheheheeee... You've always been the most go-ahead of us all, ToxicMan... very well, guys, that will do for today. You may take your leave, if you so desire... oh, and obviously, you as well!" he added, slightly turning to a menacing steel arch a few meters behind him, beyond which nothing could be seen other than floating lines of red light flashing in the darkness. "Your job is done, for today... And I know we can always count on your cooperation, right?"

The last few words, spoken with palpable malice, seemed to fall on deaf ears for a few seconds, before they were answered by a metallic, emotionless voice...

"_Yes, StarMan... that goes without saying..._"

----------

"So, you are saying that traces of the Zero Virus have begun appearing in the ACDC Town net as well?"

"Affirmative, Enzan-sama." ProtoMan answered from the computer screen he had been jacked in. "Furthermore, through personal researches, I came to know that some NetNavi of unknown origin have been seen circulating throughout the Net. They had SciLab IDs, which were obviously stolen, with them, and they claimed to be selling copies of an anti-viral program. Their appearance is in coincidence with the appearance of the Zero Virus. It is therefore quite likely that they are involved in its spreading." The SciLab ace was a fiery-looking, yet not physically too impressive, NetNavi, and his reputatin among Net-criminals was such that a simple glare of his cold eyes, even through his black visor, was enough to make most of them freeze in terror. Just a little taller than MegaMan, he wore a black bodysuit with red chestplate, gloves and boots, and his helmet was red as well, with a white circle around his temples and forehead, and a small red spike jutting out from the top. Of his whole face, only his mouth, which still remained impassive as he continued his report, was visible. From the back of his helmet flowed long hair the colour of immaculate snow, and his icon, emblazoned on his chest and beside his visor, looked like the Yin-Yang symbol, only with a zigzagged line to separate the white part from the black one. Cool-headed, direct and professional, not given to sentimentalism and with incredible swordsmanship skills, ProtoMan was and remained still the most feared NetNavi in Electopia, and its staunchiest defender against Net-crime!

Sitting at his desk, before the computer screen where his NetNavi was, the young Official NetBattler Enzan Ijyuin, ProtoMan's operator known for his almost peerless skill (in all his serving time for SciLab, he was only defeated once) and his efficiency, nodded, making a mental note of what the scarlet swordsman NetNavi had just said. Enzan was a young boy about Netto's age, but his serious, mature, somewhat snobbish behaviour, made him seem older by two or three years. Just like his NetNavi, he had white hair, the difference being that he kept them cut short, and that they became black on his sideburns and the back of his head; his eyes were blue and shone coldly, just like ice under the sun. At the moment, as he was going through the reports of the day, he was wearing his usual clothes - a black long-sleeved shirt with a red jacket, long camouflage pants, and black shoes. He was known for his off-putting personality, and his tendency to work alone... mainly because only a small handful of his colleagues, even many years his senior, could as much as come close to his extraordinary skills... and despite not being the most friendly guy in the world, he was quite well-liked in the whole Electopia. At first, he was quite a bit more arrogant, and considered his NetNavi a simple tool for accomplishing his missions and delete viruses (and ProtoMan, not an emotional guy himself, accepted his operator's way of thinking without complaints)... but recently, after his first and only defeat at the hands of Netto and MegaMan, his relations with ProtoMan were slowly beginning to become more open.

"I see." Enzan concluded. "Okay, ProtoMan, that will do for today. Tomorrow, we'll be heading to SciLab to refer our findings. I'm jacking you out."

"Acknowledge." ProtoMan answered with an affirmative nod, before he morphed into a LOGOUT word and his data were transferred again to the PET connected to the computer. After saving the last updates, Enzan closed his work session and cast a glance to a stack of papers lying on the desk beside him. His azure eyes glared coldly at the material, as a suspicion began worming its way through his mind.

"A new virus, and NetNavis who spread it in the guise of a vaccine program..." he murmured to himself, giving voice to his thoughts. "Could it be that the WWW's plans have merely takes a new shape...?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

I apologize for the ridiculous amount of time it took to update, but real life can be a cruel mistress at times... anyway, I hope I will be able to put up the next chapter before Christmas. Prepare to see a few familiar faces making their reappearance!

And, if you will, send me a review!


	5. Chapter 5

**Megaman Battle Network Transmission**

**Chapter 5 - A Visit to SciLab**

The next day's morning had brightened ACDC Town, and all everyday activities were back in full swing, with most of the populace merrily unknowing of the previous evening's online chaos. Of course, certain areas of the Net had been damaged by FireMan's crazed assault, a few links acting slowly and erratic as their data were in the process of reassembling... but, all things considered, damage had been quite limited, and most inhabitants of the small town had not even acknowledged what had happened.

However, some well knew that the events that had transpired that evening were not a simple disfunction, or your run-of-the-mill virus attack, and that something a lot more serious was afoot. Among these few were fifth grader Netto Hikari, now skating towards the school gates with his backpack on his shoulders - for once, bang on time! - and his NetNavi ; after all, they _were_ the ones to stop the out-of-control FireMan and to discover that the firey Navi was under somebody else's control... but as to who or what that might have been, no clue had been given. Even then, the two brothers were discussing between themselves, trying to think of a possible solution to the matter at hand.

"So, MegaMan..." Netto was saying as he held his PET in front of himself, while keeping an eye on the road as he neared ACDC Elementary. "FireMan was not in control of himself when he attacked our home once again, that much is a given. But... you really have no idea who could be controlling him?"

The Blue Bomber shook his head. "Much to my annoyance, I don't. I really can't imagine who would cause such rage in FireMan. I can only say that his program had been tampered with by someone other than Kenichi-san, who was controlling him from a distance. As for who that someone could be, well... your guess is as good as mine..."

The young boy wrinkled his nose and grit his teeth in a disappointed gesture. "Hm... alright, sorry, that was quite an absurd question. How were you supposed to know? Still, there is something very wrong about this... if someone can take control of other people's NetNavis, you could very well be the next one... or even Roll, Glyde, GutsMan or IceMan... If only we could know what possessed FireMan..." he commented, his still-energetic and perky voice now tinted with worry.

MegaMan was quick to think of a possible solution. "Well, you know, Netto, I was thinking... today is Friday, right? Which means we don't have school tomorrow... what do you say we send a mail to our friends and to Kenichi and his buddies, and we propose a little trip to SciLab, where Dad works? Of course, we'll have to call him as well and ask him if he can have a look at our friends' Navis, but I think that would be the best idea. After all, Dad is the authority in what concern NetNavi and programming. I'm sure he will be able to figure out what happened to FireMan..."

"You're a genius, MegaMan! I really hadn't thought of this!" Netto exclaimed, his radiant smile back on his face. "If we ask Dad, he'll solve the problem before you can say 'jack in'!"

In fact Netto and Saito/MegaMan's father, Prof. Yuuichiro Hikari, was known as one of the greatest and most clever experts in informatics and NetNavis in all of Electopia... after all, he was the one who created the first NetNavis ever to be able to interact with their operators, and it was still him who, thanks to an effective program he had personally developed and transmitted to MegaMan, to allow his sons to fight on even terms with the dreaded LifeVirus... and that's not even considering oher innovations he had theorized and developed, who had contributed to the betterment of both worlds! Yes, that could have been the right idea... such a brilliant mind would have easily understood what was wrong by simply scanning FireMan's data...

"Very well then, MegaMan... during our lunch break, we'll send a mail to Daddy and our friends! Thanks for your idea!" Netto went on.

The azure NetNavi responded with a brief smile, before pointing to the road ahead of them. "Oh, that's nothing, Netto... but now, I think you should mind your skating, before you end up hitting something..."

"Huh? What do you... ARGH!"

An alarmed Netto raised his head... and promptly crashed against a flower-filled stand that had popped out of nowhere right in front of him! He barely had time to hear the startled cry of the stand's female owner before he ended up diving facefirst into a dense cloud of delicate and colorful petals, his limbs flailing madly in a clumsy attempt to keep his balance! MegaMan grit his teeth and held himself to his screen's sides as his PET slipped out of the chestnut-haired boy's hand and fell on top of the stand, shaking him up quite nicely!

"Ugh... That's just what I meant..." the blue NetNavi murmured, his vision obstruct by the flowers covering the liquid crystal screen... Netto, on his part, remained sprawled on the stand, his face in the midst of the flowers and his mouth contorted in a comical embarassed frown! To end up crashing in a flower stand... what an embarassment!

...

Hold on... flowers?

"Hey, kid... you okay?" asked the sincerely concerned voice of the stand's owner. Shaking his head, Netto slowly got up, trying not to do more damage than he already had done, and took the petals off his face with his right sleeve.

"Ugh... yes, miss, no worries! I didn't get hurt... rather, I should apologize for..."

Netto's sentence came to an abrupt halt as the young boy looked up to see, and recognize, the one he was talking to: she was a girl of about eighteen or nineteen, with long and smooth emerald-green hair framing a delicate, sweet face with deep blue eyes and red cheeks, and being kept in place by a wide brown headband decorated with a spiral symbol. The simple dress she was wearing, a blue kimono-like dress turning white on the sleeves, was complemented by a brown belt hanging from her hips, long brown trousers decorated with a beige vertical line in the middle of each leg, and matching workshoes.

Of course, how could anyone not recognize her? She was quite a popular person around there... Saloma Hayashibara, a florist and volunteer for an environmentalistic association, was a girl well-known and liked for her cheerfulness and sweetness, and her flower stand was a bit of a staple for ACDC Town...

Of course, not to say that, unbeknowst to all ACDC inhabitants save for a certain fortune teller and a certain fishmonger, she was also a Net-Agent codenamed Black Rose, who had on more than one occasion helped Netto and his friends with her NetNavi, the gentle giant WoodMan...

"Hey! That's you, Saloma-san!" the young boy exclaimed upon recognizing her. The florist blinked in pleasant surprise, recalling the chestnut-haired boy and his trademark jacket and headband herself.

"Netto-kun! What a surprise! It's been quite a bit of time, huh?" she joyously exclaimed. "So, tell me, how are things going? Are you and MegaMan still cool?"

Netto placed his hand behind his head and laughed, still a little embarassed over his previous 'dive'. "Hehehee... well, yeah, guess we can't really complain! Still, now that the WWW is no more, things are a little boring around here... as for MegaMan, er... huh? MegaMan? MegaMan, where are you...?" he asked, looking around as he searched for his PET...

"Down here, Netto-kun..." MegaMan's voice came, half-choked by the smothering petals...

"Er..." Netto coughed his embarassment away, then reclaimed his portable computer from beneath the flowers. "Sorry, MegaMan, I got a little distracted and... well..."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed that... Achoo!" the blue NetNavi sneezed, as if the flowers' pollen had filtered through the screen and irritated his nose. "Still, nice to see you again, Saloma-san! Everything going smooth on your part as well? We hope we didn't do too much damage to your flowers..."

The emerald-haired girl smiled the NetNavi's and his Net-Op's worries away. "Oh, don't worry about that, it's really nothing big! I can just put things back in order..." she answered as she went to work and began reassembling the flower compositions. "I'm more concerned about you, actually... you didn't get hurt, did you?"

"No, no, we're okay..." Netto answered, as he climbed back to his feet and picked up a few fallen roses. "By the way, Saloma-san, let me help you with that!"

"Thanks, that's very kind of you..." she responded. In a few moments, the stand was back in one place, and the flower had been correctly rearranged.

"Phew... and that's that! Thanks fo your help, boys!" Saloma thanked again, as she wiped some wandering petals from her dress.

The boy waved his hand modestly. "Oh, that's nothing... by the way, turning back to our previous questions... is your work still going strong? It did seems so, last time we met, back at SciLab..."

"And it has stayed this way, luckily for me!" she answered. "It's just that nowadays I don't have too much in the way of clientele... however, yeah, I guess it will do for now! I guess your Dad is always immersed in work, back there at SciLab..."

MegaMan nodded. "Unfortunately, yes, especially in this period... I guess you have heard of that Zero Virus thing yourself, right? Well, now that is has begun infecting NetNavis even in this area, Hikari-hakase will have a lot more work to do... In fact, we were thinking to call him later to ask about something that happen to the NetNavi of a friend of ours. We suspect the Zero Virus to be the cause of it."

The nature lover turned quite a bit more serious at that. "Hm... yeah, I did hear of that myself... I'm not really too concerned, me not having a NetNavi and all, but still... this does worry me somewhat. Just like the WWW..." she answered, not bothering to hide a slight tinge of anxiety. "I hope the Officials can handle this..."

As she spoke, Saloma wrinkled her nose ever so slightly. She really didn't like to lie... she had said she didn't have a NetNavi, when this was completely untrue... but she couldn't just reveal her secret identity to Netto and MegaMan, and had they known her NetNavi was WoodMan, the Net-Agents' cover would have been blown...

Netto glanced once again at his PET, taking a look at the clock in the up-right corner. "Okay... well, I have to go now! School is starting in a few minutes, and we'd like not to run late, at least for today..." he commented. "See you next time, Saloma-san... and have a nice day!"

"Thanks, Netto-kun, MegaMan! And happy studying to you, boys!" she answered, waving her hand as Netto and MegaMan jauntily returned the gesture. In a few moments, the two had skated away on their way to ACDC Elementary, disappearing for the young environmentalist's sight who soon went back to her work, humming merrily to herself as she ordered the flowers...

"You seem quite happy today."

"GAH!" Saloma shrieked, her hair standing on end like the fur of an angered cat, as a tenuous female voice, coming from behind her, startled her out of her wits and caused her to jump at least a foot up in the air. Saloma placed an hand on her heart to calm down its furious beating, then she quickly turned to the one who had spoken...

"While not too calm." The person in question finished her sentence: she was a young woman the same age as Saloma, dressed in an elegant, long-sleeved black dress with purple highlights, and white decorations, similar to the stylized skeleton of a fish, on the upper part of her arms. She was also wearing an ample skirt whose border was decorated with a black and purple zigzag, and violet boots were on her feet. On her head stood a purple hat with a white skull drawn in front, and long aqua-green hair flowed from underneath it, tied in a pair of braids with golden rings on their ends. The expression on her face was calm, collected, rational and almost apathetic, in stark contrast with Saloma's spontaneous emotionality. She was Miyuki Kuroi, Saloma's best friend and the mysterious - while somewhat unsettling - clairvoyant of Dentech City who, alongside her NetNavi SkullMan, fought Netcrime as the Net-Agents Misteryu.

"Phew... wow... cripes, Miyuki-chan, do you find it so enjoyable to sneak up on me and scare me half to death? I'll get an heart attack, one of these days!" the florist shouted, giving a bit of an evil eye to her gothic-looking best friend, who did not even blink and proceeded with what she had to say.

"My apologies. But I have come to discuss a very important matter, regarding the Zero Virus." she explained, watching as her best friend's expression went from scared to anxiously interested. "I already sent Masa-san a mail to inform him of what I say yesterday evening, but I wanted to discuss with you directly about this."

Saloma's eyes went slightly wider. "What? What happened yesterday evening?"

"At around half past ten, I and SkullMan were taking a stroll outside." Miyuki explained, as if going for a walk at such a late hour was the most natural thing in the world. Still, Saloma reflected, both Miyuki and her NetNavi liked the dark... "As we were heading back, we happened to see a suspicious-looking young woman, holding a PET in her hands, climbing over the fencing surrounding the new restaurant, Maha Ichiban. We have come to think she might be implicated in the spreading of the Zero Virus, and the fact that one of the owners' NetNavis went into a sudden rampage soon after only reinforces our take."

It wasn't hard for Saloma to put two and two together. "Simply put, you think that girl had some Zero samples and has somehow transmitted it to the restaurant's Navis." she commented, with Miyuki expressionlessly nodding in agreement.

"Very much so." she placidly answered. "As I just said, I already warned Masa-san about our findings, and he should be sending us a summoning call soon. But before that, I wanted to ask you and WoodMan whether you are willing to help us again. Surely, young Hikari and his friends will not let this situation alone, now that they have been caught into it. But I think they might need some help."

Saloma nodded, extracting her PET from an hidden compartment in her stand. On the screen, there was her colossal NetNavi WoodMan, a rotund, somewhat noodle-shaped wooden giant with elongated arms reinforced with silvered bands from his shoulder to his wrists, and a relatively small head directly attached to the body, with no neck to separate the two; his face consisted of two holes in the wood with a faint yellow light gleaming in their interior, acting as eyes, a large mouth with thick lips, and nothing more. On his belt was his icon, a spiral similar to that on his operator's headband. He was also wearing large dark-green-going-into-black trousers, and his short legs ended in a pair of large squared feet. He was a truly imposing figure, dwarfing even GutsMan, but despite this he was a meek NetNavi with a gentle soul.

"So, WoodMan? What about it?" Saloma asked, giving him her sweet smile. The wooden behemoth, without even having to think about it, briskly nodded in agreement, his right hand clenched in a thumbs-up sign.

"Is there anyway to ask, Saloma-chan? Of course I accept!" he answered, in a deep, booming, yet placid voice.

The emerald-head nodded back, before turning back to her best friend. "Alright, Miyuki-chan... you can count on us! The Net-Agents are back in action!"

"That is good to know." the clairvoyant said, the barest hint of a smile grazing her pretty face. "Then, let us start getting ready. We have some serious investigating to do."

----------

Somewhere else, and more exactly in ACDC Town's market zone...

"Thank you very much, miss! You're welcome to come back whenever you want!" jovially exclaimed a somewhat rotund, none too handsome yet still nice-sounding, man about in his forties, as he stood behind his fish stand after serving his latent client. "Well, then... come, people, come! Fresh fish, straight out of the sea! Calcium for the bones! Vitamin D for the brain! All at the most convenient price! Come on, ladies and gentlemen! None of you wants some fish? You'll never find any as good as Masa's, that's for sure!"

The vocal fishmonger who was so loudly sponsoring his own trade was another familiar face in ACDC - in fact, pretty much everyone in the small town knew Masa, possibly the most old-fashioned person around, since he claimed to not even know what a NetBattle or a NetNavi was. Well-known for his habit of sponsoring his fish stand by reminding everyone of the healthy effects of fish on human body, he was dressed in an adherent blue suit, with overlarge dark green trousers and white boots, and tied around his waist was some sort of apron upon which - somewhat predictably - the image of a fish was drawn, yet another testament to his strange obsession! He was almost completely bald save for a pair of 'bushes' on the sides of his head, and his thin black moustache combined with his large lips actually made him look like a fish. In other words, his very appearence was enough to tell everyone he was destined to work with the riches of the sea!

But looks can deceive, and his claim not to know anything about NetBattles was not necessarily true.

In fact, among the secret organization of the Net-Agents, and among some of the UraNet's cruel NetNavis, Masa was known by the pseudonym of 'Commander Beef', leader of the masked superhero trio ed Net-Operator of the mighty SharkMan! Just like his underlings Saloma and Miyuki, he had aided Netto and his friends during the WWW fiasco, and now that the matter had seemingly come to a close, he had had no problem going back to his everyday job, setting aside his secret identity at least for the moment.

However, it seemed fate had other plans even for the extravagant fishmonger... and just as Masa was glancing around and vocally calling for someone interested in his trade, his ears caught a faint beeping sound from the PET he kept carefully hidden under his stand.

"Hey, Masa!" SharkMan called to him gruffly. "You've got mail, and I think it's the girls!"

"What? Hayashibara and Kuroi? And what could that be, to call me at such a time?". Masa lightly frowned, his large forehead wrinkling ever so slightly... and after throwing another glance around to make sure nobody noticed him in the market's chaos, he took his PET out of its hiding place... and there stood SharkMan, his hand-fin pointing to the top right corner of the screen, towards a sign of incoming message!

"There it is, Masa!" the shark Navi answered. "Yeah, it's Saloma and Miyuki alright, and it's about that Zero Virus thing! Looks like the girls found out something interesting!"

Just as the name implied, SharkMan looked like what a shark might have looked like had it been able to walk on two legs, with his cobalt blue skin turning white on his underbelly and beneath his chin and arms... and his front fins splitting into four large triangular fingers towards their tips. His huge mouth was lined with row upon row of cartilagineous teeth, and his sail-like dorsal fin jutted out of his back in a very Jaws-like way, its edge tinted a bright yellow. The lower half of his body was humanoid, with long, thin legs instead of a tail, and his chest was encased in a grey-green armor upon which his icon, looking like a shark seen from below, was emblazoned. The strongest of the three Net-Agents Navis, SharkMan was as fast as he was unpredictable in combat, and while he was not up to par with the almost legendary ProtoMan, his name was still enough to give Net-criminals pause!

His curiosity piqued, Masa pressed one of his PET's buttons, his gesture passing unnoticed under his stand and among the chaotic come-and-go of the market... before carefully reading Miyuki's message. As his small black eyes devoured the text, a slight smirk formed itself on his lips... and finally, after reaching the end, Masa quickly typed up an answer.

"Great news, SharkMan! Kuroi has in fact found out something very interesting about the Zero Virus!" the rotund man announced. "Okay, then... give this message to SkullMan and WoodMan, and tell them that Commander Beef is ready to make a comeback! What do you say about that, huh? Like the idea?"

The shark-like Navi grinned in an almost predatory way. "That will be my honor... and my pleasure!"

----------

ACDC Town, a few hours later.

After lunch break, the last two school hours of the week had gone by in a snap for Netto and MegaMan, thanks to them being Virus Busting lessons, the young NetBattler's favourite subject... and now, the dynamic duo of NetOp and NetNavi was happily skating along the main road, chatting among themselves about what to do with the time they had...

"Alright, Netto... we contacted them during lunch break, and Kenichi and the others accepted to come to SciLab with us to talk to Dad!" MegaMan was saying. "With a little luck, we'll shed some light on what happened to FireMan!"

Netto enthusiastically nodded. "Excellent! So, which time is our meeting with the guys?"

"Half past three, in front of the Metroline station. We still have a full hour to ourselves..." the blue NetNavi answered after a quick look at the most recently received messages. "Have you already thought of something to pass the time, perhaps?"

"You bet I have!" Netto exclaimed with a wink and a fist clenched in front of him. "Let's skip to Higure-ya, and see if there's anything new! After all, we haven't been there for a while, and I'm sure Higure-san will be glad to see us!"

MegaMan chuckled humorously. "Somehow, I thought that would've been your answer... it's your favourite shop in town! However, yes, I'm cool with it. So Higure-ya be it!"

Smiling from ear to ear, Netto secured his PET to his shorts and happily sped towards the famous Battlechip shop, not too far removed from the school. As he expected, there were already quite a few kids his age messing around with Chip Traders and the other machines both inside and just outside of the shop, some of them gloating over new chips they had bought or won at the games, some still watching the orderly-disposed chip collections behind the glasses. As they entered, Netto and MegaMan were greeted by the merry jingling of the entrance bells, and by the counter behind which the shop owner, Higure Yamitaro, was busy serving his young clients.

"Now that's a good choice, kid! You get a nice little Program Advance with these three chips, de masu!" the chip otaku was telling one of his customers as he collected the Net-cash, throwing in his usual pet phrase. "That will be three thousand Zenny, and... Hey, look who's back, de masu!" Just then, Higure raised his head and saw the smiling faces of both Netto and MegaMan, waving at him from the entrance.

"Long time you didn't show up around here, boys, de masu! So, what's shakin'?" Higure asked his two friends after completing the transaction with his current customer. The owner of Higure-ya and Battlechip collector was a tall, thin man about in his early thirties, very nerdy-looking with his thick looking-glasses, his disarrayed mop of brown hair, a somewhat vapid expression and dressing in a very unfashionable way, with a small orange tie on a white shirt, long blue trousers, and brown sandals upon white socks. He and Netto had known each other in a somewhat unorthodox way, seeing as Higure was originally a WWW agent who worked for Dr. Wily for money with which to buy all the rare Battlechips he wanted! Their first encounter had been in Netto's school, when Higure had taken Mariko's place by posing as a substitute teacher, and had tried to infect the school's computers with a WWW propaganda program. Clearly, Netto and his friends - bar Tohru, who had not been part of the group at the time - had intervened... and, after solving a fair number of puzzles, MegaMan had faced and easily defeated Higure's NetNavi, the weird NumberMan. Following this harsh lesson, the chip collector had promised to change his ways... and had made good on his vow, opening what would later become the most popular shop among ACDC Town's youngsters!

In front of him, on the small screen beside his counter where his PET had been jacked in, the humorous figure of NumberMan was visible: he was just as lanky as his operator, and his oversized head, consisting in a large glass dome covering a sphere glowing in a myriad of intermittent lights, accomodated a pair of huge eyes similar to shining headlights. His black suit turned a greyish white on his arms and legs, with light green armor complete with some kind of liquid crystal screen on his torso, and he was wearing green gloves on his stubby three-fingered hands, and hourglass-shaped boots on his legs. An expect on maths, calculus and numbers in general, NumberMan was more than perfect from the job he had taken up after his operator's defection from WWW; that is, collecting Net-money and calculating totals and change. At the moment, he was busy registering the latest operation, but he allowed himself a few seconds to turn his head to Netto and MegaMan and greeting them with a wave of the hand.

"Yo, Higure-san! Your chip shop is always going perfectly!" Netto greeted. "As for what we were doing here... nothing special, really, we just wanted to take a look around. And we can see you're in a very good mood, today! Anything interesting in the works?"

"You don't say, kiddo!" the four-eyed man exclaimed, as happy as a child in front of a chocolate tablet. "Just a few hours earlier, I got the news that in a few days my shop will be among the first ones to receive a supply of last generation Battlechips! Chips that see the shelves for the first time ever! And I'll be one of the first ones to check and sell them out! Isn't this terrific news?"

All of a sudden, Netto felt himself in a state of pure, unadulterated bliss! That was why Higure had looked so happy... and no prizes for guessing why! "A... a... stock of... NEW BATTLECHIPS? This... is... groundbreaking! And... you don't know what kind of Battlechip they are, perhaps?"

Higure rubbed the back of his head, as MegaMan chuckled lightly about how vocal the two were when it was about their favourite hobby. "Heheheheee... Actually, I don't know much myself, de masu... I've been told that these new Battlechips alter the terrain, but nothing else! Er... now, guys, sorry to sound rude, but I have to go back to my customers! But you and MegaMan, don't just stand there! If you wanna have a look..." Higure answered, before turning his attention to the young clientele waiting in front of his and NumberMan's counter. "So, tell me, kids, de masu... what would you like to buy?"

With a gracious nod, Netto and MegaMan thanked the shop keeper, and began slowly pacing among the exposed Battlechips, admiring them in awe...

----------

"So, StarMan... you can't pinpoint those four good-for-nothing? Are they not online at the moment?" Dr. Doppler asked - or, more like, barked - at the small figure of StarMan on the flat screen standing in front of him. The leader of the Zero Virus smugglers had asked his underling to locate the position of FireMan and the other former WWW Navis, but the research had been going on for a while, and still there were no results.

Right behind the evil scientist, the other five human members of the organization were disciplinately standing, while, on the screen, StarMan was sitting on what seemed like the CyberWorld equivalent of a bench in the Zero Account, his head resting on the palm of his hand in a bored manner. "Phew... unfortunately, we cannot say, Dr. Doppler. Zero informs us that he cannot locate them anywhere on the Net, which means that they either got out of the range of Zero's sensors, which is quite unlikely... or that those buffoons have not jacked them in for a while. I cannot dismiss the possibility that they already suspect something..." the small Navi chirped, his eyes idly observing his free hand.

StarMan was a small Navi, barely taller than IceMan or TimeMan, and his cute appearance and demeanor was quite likely to make anyone dismiss him as a non-threatening Navi: with his blue bodysuit, white pants kept up by some kind of futuristic brown belt, overlarge knee-length yellow boots and white gloves, his hair was a bright blonde, combed in a series of gravity-defying spikes surging from his head like the rays of a miniature sun. His skin was pure white, his eyes a dark colour devoid of pupils, and he was wearing a pair of red headphones on his ears. His icon was, quite obviously, a 5-pointed star on a black background.

Dr. Doppler nodded in annoyance. "Hmph. I see... and no prizes for guessing where those fools are headed. Electopian researchers have earned their reputation, after all, and I'm willing to bet those useless oafs are trying to get SciLab's help. StarMan, you told me that, just yesterday evening, after we activated the Zero Virus inside of him, FireMan was defeated by the infamous MegaMan..."

"At least, that's what Zero told me..." StarMan answered, sulking ever so slightly. "And we already knew that Yuuichiro Hikari, MegaMan's operator Netto Hikari's father, is one of the most praised researchers, when it comes to informatics and NetNavis..."

The scientist rubbed his shaved chin with one hand, and his hard face came alive with a nasty smirk that made him all the more intimidating. "Well then... looks like we'll be meeting the famed before I anticipated... no matter. At least for now, the only thing that counts is that our HQs remain undiscovered. And the money we made from selling the Zero Virus are more than enough. Now, I reckon it's time to show Electopia's... proud defenders... what our organization is all about!" he reasoned, before turning to his henchmen. "Seiya, Hiroshi, Takeshi! This will be your next mission! You'll have to give SciLab a sample of our power by infiltrating into their main servers with your NetNavis. Unleash our viruses on them, and show how dangerous the WWW-Dash can be! The time for secrecy is past, even if earlier than I anticipated!"

"With pleasure!" Seiya's arrogant voice chimed in, as its owner stepped forward: he was a tall, lanky boy of about eighteen, with short beige hair with a fringe covering half his forehead, and green-blue eyes, sporting a golden star-shaped glitter on his left cheekbone. He was wearing a white, somewhat ragged t-shirt with the nuclear hazard symbol drawn in black and yellow on his chest and shoulders, showing his physique well enough; long blue trousers with ripped knees, a black leather jacket decorated with small silver chains dangling from its pockets and chiming gently with every step he took, and black-and-blue pumps. His hands were kept in his jeans pockets, even in from of his boss, and he was carrying himself with spiteful indifference, effectively giving himself the appearence of a juvenile delinquent... which was enhanced by a ring-shaped earring on his right ear. Finally, and predictably enough, he had a PET attached to his waist.

"We have been waiting a long time for this, Dr. Doppler, and I and CrashMan have no intention to fail you!" Seiya exclaimed, his lips curled upwards in a nasty smirk. "And what about you, little Futa twins? You think you're up to this? If you got cold feet, you're still in time to go home and cry for momma!"

"Hmph! You're the one talking!" came the annoyed answer of a small thirteen-year-old boy dressed in an adherent crimson red bodysuit, which sported a black "WWW'" sign on the chest, and featureless ankle-height black boots. The lower half of his face was hidden by a mask which only left uncovered his cold azure eyes, the same color of his spiky hair, and he was holding a red PET dangling on a belt hanging by his hips.

"You're usually the one who messes things up, with your silly fighting-crazy antics!" Another young boy, absolutely identical to the one who had just spoken, came out of the darkness and finished his companion's sentence. The two resembled mirror images of one another, and even the second twin held a PET on his belt... the only difference being that the latter's PET was empty, and no NetNavi was onscreen!

"Er... Dr. Doppler, if I may..." Megan interjected, her annoyingly high-pitched voice breaking the mood. The sailor fuku-clad girl had stepped forward, coming out of the darkness Seiya and the Futa twins had come out of, and had request her leader's attention. As soon as Doppler motioned her to speak, Megan adjusted her glasses and went on, ignoring the hard glances she was receiving from the other WWW-Dash members. "If I am entitled to, I'd like to ask why should we reveal our presence to the Officials. We've been hiding in the shadow up until now, so why now are we..." She stopped herself, but the rest of the question was obvious.

Doppler grinned again. "Hmhmmm... good question, Megan... but, actually, we're not revealing all our cards here! The plan is now entering its second phase, and you have to make sure the Officials don't manage to track us down before it is completed! In light of that, your duty will be to distract the Officials, disrupt their investigations, and keep them busy. If they'll be too preoccupied with the chaos you'll cause, they won't be able to forward their investigations quick enough to discover our true target before it's too late for them!" he answered. Megan could swear she had seen a fanatical glint in his beady black eyes, and such a sight made a cold shiver run down her backbone...

"So, this is it... Seiya, Hiroshi, Takeshi, you know what to do, and you also know how to deal with MegaMan and his little friends should they show up to interfere!" the cruel scientist finished. The jacket-clad delinquent and the masked twins bowed, and slowly exited the darkened room, with Seiya grinning from ear to ear as he thought of the mission at hand...

"As for what concerns you two..." Dr. Doppler went on, talking to his two remaining pupils, as soon as Seiya and the twins had left. "You and I will be staying here. I need your help for creating some new kind of virus to guard the Zero Account with, and to further distract the Officials..."

"I thought SwordMan and GravityMan guarding the account were enough for you. At the moment, their upgrades have almost been completed, and they should soon be ready to take their places." the voice of Kenji, the only WWW-Dash member who had not revealed himself, commented calmly. However, under the pale light of the screen upon which StarMan was being broadcast, it was quite clear that he was about Megan's age, he was wearing a trenchcoat, and his hair was combed backwards in a gravity-defying flame hairdo.

StarMan himself answered. "Yeah, but one can never be too sure. The viruses we're working on should give us a little more safety, just in case."

With an indifferent shrug, Megan accepted. "Fine by me. After all, my TimeMan isn't exactly a fighting type... okay, Dr. Doppler, we can start whenever you want..."

"I'm fine with it too..." Kenji spoke. "I just hope I'll get my chance to show ToxicMan's power as well. I'll confess, I do have a bit of a desire for a battle with ."

"Heheheee... worry not, Kenji, for you'll get your chance..." Doppler smirked. "That will do for now, StarMan, you're dismissed."

The small NetNavi unsheathed a cunning smirk, before nodding and interrupting the transmission, leaving the WWW-Dash leader and his two disciples staring at a disquietingly white screen...

"So, then. While Seiya and the twins carry out their mission, we can focus on ours! Come with me!" Dr. Doppler exorted, motioning to Megan and Kenji to follow him into the computer lab...

----------

Later that afternoon, a mixed group of young NetBattlers and former WWW members, each carrying their own PET and NetNavi, had climbed down from the subway train that had taken them near the main SciLab building, where Dr. Yuuichiro Hikari worked, and where they would hopefully cast a little more light on what had happened to FireMan last night. During their slow walk towards the SciLab headquarters, Netto and Tohru had taken the lead of the team, guiding them through a meticulously clean corridor and towards the reception... and along which, the colourful and somewhat annoyed WWW operators were being made the object of the workers' curious stares!

"Well? What's so funny to look at, pal? I have not come out of a circus, dangit!" Madoi snapped when two white-clad scientists kept their gazes upon her for a few seconds too long to be considered polite. Put off by the orange-haired young woman's irritated glare, the unfortunate individuals retreated with a fearful 'eep' and quickly stepped away, getting back to their work. Madoi hmmphed and turned her nose up in the air, her arms crossed on her chest in a superior way.

"Woah! Remind me not to make her mad..." a stunned Dekao commented. "I think that would've scared a tiger stiff..."

"I certanly won't blame her! We're being looked at like we were freaks or something!" Kenichi grumbled. "Tch... and if I have to say it, I'm kinda a fish out of water among all these Officials!"

"Please, guys, just be patient for a little while..." Meiru called for calm. "After all, it was necessary for you to come, if we want to see what happened to your Navis... So, Netto-kun, you and Tohru-kun know this place better than we do. Where do we have to go, to speak with your Dad?"

"We have to ask the receptionist, over there..." Netto answered, pointing towards a desk a few yards in front of them. His friends followed him as he reached the desk and raised his hand, calling for the secretary's attention. "Er... Excuse me, Miss..."

The receptionist sorted out a few sheets and quickly answered the call, answering to the colourful group with a perfectly formal tone. "Yes, tell me... how may I help you?" she asked.

Netto cleared his throat. "Er... Hello, Miss... I and my friends needed to talk to Dr. Yuuichiro Hikari... it's a somewhat urgent matter... we... already spoke to him by mail, and he gave us an appointment... well... about now!" he answered, taking a glance at his PET's clock.

"Yes, of course. Hold on a second..." the secretary answered, giving a look at a screen beside her. "Yes, Hikari-hakase is in his lab at the moment... on the first floor, to be clear. He should be free right now, so he'll probably be able to speak with you right now."

Netto nodded, giving the secretary a small smile. "Thank you very much, Miss! Very kind of you." he answered, before he and his friends headed towards the nearest elevator.

Since there were nine of them, among classmates and former WWW members - eighteen of them, actually, also counting their NetNavis! - they were forced to call the elevator twice before everyone reached their destination... and once they all did, they found Dr. Hikari's lab only a few metres besides them, bursting with activity and with SciLab personnel going back and forth according to the busy schedule such an important institution obviously had to have. Netto motioned for his friends to follow him, and the small group entered a huge white room filled with computer and complex machinery, among which large mainframes sported x-y graphs on their screens... along with more, painfully complex graphs and equations on whose functions Netto and his friends were not even going to start thinking! Needless to say, the unusual sight of a group of children and weird-looking adults caused a lot of heads to turn their way, and Netto's friends were no less in awe of the environment around them...

"Cripes, Netto-kun! You never told us your Dad worked in a such a cool place!" Dekao exclaimed, staring in wonder at the futuristic machinery all around him.

Even Count Jack, who had been there to steal the Elemental Program of Electricity, was left quite speechless by all of that. "My word, guys, never seen anything like that in my whole life! Now I can see how SciLab could keep the pace with us of the WWW... Ow! What's the matter with you now?" he exclaimed. He had been loud enough to receive an harsh nudge from Madoi.

"Just keep that trap of yours shut, will ya?" ColourMan's NetOp snapped in annoyance. "You know we're in trouble if they find out you-know-what!". ElecMan's operator murmured something, but made no actual comment.

It was the ever-calm Mahajarama to keep things from escalating too much. "Ah-ehm... anyway, back to the reason we came here for... so, young Netto, you can tell us where to find your father, right?" he asked, taking a look around (and prompting Tohru to ask himself how could he do it, since he kept his eyes always shut...) in search of someone who could be Dr. Hikari.

"He must be around here, somewhere... oh, right, there he is! Hey, Dad! Dad, over here! We've come!" Netto answered. With a steady pace, he headed towards one of the larger computers, towards a chestnut-haired man working on the mainframe, who immediately raised his eyes towards the boy and his friends.

"Oh, Netto! Everyone! Welcome, I was just waiting for you! And... you brought a few guest, I can see..." Yuuichiro greeted them in his usual friendly tone. The best scientist SciLab could ever count on was a tidy brown-haired young man - just like his wife Haruka, he was obviously below his forties - wearing a beige uniform with orange trimmings and a symbol resembling MegaMan's icon on his heart, a pair of lead-grey trousers, light broen shoes and glasses. Of course, at just a first glance, it was quite hard to recognize him as one of Electopia's most brilliant scientists, what with his calm, somewhat absent-looking demeanor...

"Hi, Daddy!" Netto exclaimed as he hugged his parent affectionately, then he took out his PET to also allow MegaMan to greet him. The blue NetNavi waved at his father and smiled affably.

"Hey, Dad! How's it going?" MegaMan asked.

Yuuichiro waved back. "Not bad at all, Saito... I definitely won't complain! What about you and Netto? Are you doing a good job making sure he does his homework? Heheheee..."

"Heheheee... no worries, Dad! Everything's right for us too, and as much as that sounds unbelievable, even Netto-kun does his job as a student!" the blue NetNavi cracked, casting an amused glance at his not-quite-as-bookish twin brother, who grit his teeth in embarassment.

"Er... okay, okay! Let's... just talk about the problem we came here for!" Netto tried to avert attention from matters not quite to his liking. "By the way... I guess I should introduce you to my friends! You already know Meiru-chan, Yaito-chan and Dekao-kun, but there are a few more I don't think you've met yet..."

One after the other, Netto's companions and their NetNavis introduced themselves to Dr. Hikari, even though Kenichi and the former WWW operators were still kind of uneasy about the whole thing: after all, for a group of former members of a Net-crime organization, it was somewhat awkward to find themselves in the Officials' HQ...

"Well, I am honoured to meet you all as well... regardless of your background, if you are here to ask for help, it hopefully means you have decided to turn over a new leaf, and, above all, that we have a problem in common." Yuuichiro answered, passing over the fact that no less than four of his new acquaintances were agents of the old WWW. "So, tell me... what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"First off, Hikari-hakase, there is something we'd like yo ask you..." Yaito started off. "That you know of, has SciLab or any other government organization developed a vaccine program against the famed Zero Virus?"

Behind the lens of his glasses, Yuuichiro's brown eyes widened at those last two words. He had guessed there was a somewhat important problem, but he had hoped it was not about that dreaded virus...

"You said... Zero Virus?" he asked, getting dead serious all of a sudden. When the children nodded, he cast his glance downwards, to the lab's perfectly polished tiles, and stood silent for a little while... then he shook his head. "No, children... there is no vaccine program as of now against the Zero Virus... at least, not as a downloadable program. Why do you ask?"

"Darn, so that was it!" Kenichi swore, mirroring his companions' angry and disappointed expressions. "We fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book!"

Yuuichiro blinked. "Fell for...? What of it? May I know what happened to you?"

FireMan's Net-Op sighed angrily and shook his head. "It all went down last night, Hikari-hakase. Our NetNavis were visited in our restaurant's server by some midget of a Navi called TimeMan, who was passing off as an Official Navi, and he sold us what we thought was a temporary vaccine against the Zero Virus. The guy told us it was to get funds for developing a permanent version! And what do you know, an hour later, my FireMan goes all nuts, does a number on our kitchen and off he goes to scorch the Net! So, it was thanks to the program that midget sold us, blast it all!". He ended his explanation by punching the palm of his hand, furious for having been duped so easily.

Netto nodded slowly. "He was quite a bit tougher than MegaMan and I recalled... we had to go all out to make him get a hold of himself!"

Yuuichiro thought hard about what he had heard. In fact, FireMan's out-of-control behaviour could easily be a symptom of Zero Virus infection... but there was something not right about the whole picture. For instance, why had only FireMan been affected, and ElecMan, ColourMan and MagicMan were alright? This needed to be looked into...

"Hmmm... right now, I don't really have an explanation for this, however... the one who sold you that so-called vaccine program was an imposter. There is no anti-Zero vaccine as of now, not even a temporary one." he answered. "Hino-san, I'd need to have a look at your NetNavis for a while..."

The four former Net-criminals shrugged and handed their PETs over to Dr. Hikari, who just then noticed that they were all turned off. It was clear that this had been done in order not to risk another Zero-related seizure, and Yuuichiro could only approve of their foresight.

"Alright then..." he finally said, after collecting the portable computers. "However, now I have to turn them off and jack your NetNavis in to the SciLab server, in order to gain a little more insight into the problem. I'll need some time for this... meanwhile, why don't you follow me in my office? Maybe we could discover more important elements by talking about it."

As the team nodded in agreement, another well-known voice added to the conversation. "If I may, Hikari-hakase, I would like to add my own contribution. ProtoMan and I have recently made some discoveries that might come some way towards the resolution of this mystery." he said, straightforward and self-assured just like Netto and his friends remembered it... And in fact, when they all turned that way, a pair of familiar sky-blue eyes and short, orderly white hair greeted their vision, belonging to a young boy in red jacket and camouflage pants...

"Enzan?" Netto asked, surprised at the unexpected sight of his rival and friend. "What... what are you doing here?"

"Pretty much what you are trying to do, I dare say." the young SciLab ace NetBattler answered, keeping his cool, nonchalant attitude. "I am currently trying to make heads and tails of the whole Zero Virus matter, and according to our discoveries..."

He paused briefly and cast a suspicious glance at the former WWW members.

"The organization your... friends here... belonged to might very well have something to do with it all."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Notes: I apologize for freezing this fanfiction for so long. I had... a few issues, I guess you could say, which I had to sort out, not to mention real life held me up with a lot of everyday problems. However, I will now try to be more constant in my updating.

As you can see, in this version of events Netto and his friends do NOT know Saloma and Miyuki have NetNavis of their own. After all, that makes it easier for the Net-Agents to keep their cover, doesn't it? And it gives our young heroes one less clue for the true identity of the Net-Agents! Expect to see more of them as the series goes on!

Nothing more to say. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and... keep your fingers crossed for the next one!


End file.
